Grey's Anatomy: On the Line
by Yolanda Bush
Summary: This takes place after lexie and mark's elevator encounter where lexie chickened out instead of telling Mark how she felt in "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," It is a view on what could happen if Lexie and Meredith's father Thatcher Grey ever fell off the wagon
1. Chapter 1: Fell off the wagon

Chapter one: Accidents Happen This fan fic is dedicated to Slexie. I hope they get back together soon. The story is on what could happen if Thatcher fell off the wagon again. We all know he is a recovering alcoholic whose been sober quite awhile but what if something got him back to drinking?

Once again Lexie seemed to find herself in this situation with Mark. Alone in an elevator with nothing but an awkward silence between the two. Should she make an effort to talk to him? The last time she found herself in this kind of ordeal she almost allowed herself to do something stupid. She wanted so much to tell him to leave the little elf girl Julie, or Julia. Whatever the hell it was. But she'd heard the words stemmed from Derek's mouth. Was she doing this because she wanted him back, or just because he was with someone else? Jealousy was definitely an active part in this but she knew she loved him. And probably would never stop. He was her first love. As hard and heart wrenching it was to love that frustrating man. Luckily she'd made up a paper work excuse that kept her from doing anything wrong.

It'd been a long day at Seattle Grace once again and all Lexie wanted to do was hit the hay. It was sometime after 8. She'd been in a 5 hour surgery today that drained every ounce of her strength after the patient nearly bled out because of her. After taking off the blood drenched scrubs and rubbing off all the sticky red blood in the shower, all Lexie wanted to do was crawl into her bed and sleep until morning when she'd have to come back to the hospital.

The elevator doors opened and Lexie and Mark both stepped forward. They were walking side by side when Mark was the one to break the silence. "Long day?" He asked, reading the tired look on Lexie's face and coming to a conclusion.

"Yeah," She answered with a laugh. "I was on Derek's service. The patient almost died because I slipped up. I'm always letting Derek down. I just can't impress him lately."

"Eh don't beat yourself up. He's not easily impressed," Mark tried to cheer her up with his sparkling smile.

Lexie and Mark laughed together when her phone started going off. Forgetting where she'd left it Lexie began searching her pockets and bag before finding it all the way t the bottom. She whipped it out and excepted the call. It was from her Dad. That was a shock. The man had found himself a bimbo and had barely kept in touch ever since his last trip at the hospital.

"Dad?" She answered, coming to a stop. Mark was leisurely walking with his hands in his pockets, but he stopped when he noticed Lexie do so.

"Wh…Who's this?" The voice slurred on the other line. An immediate red flag went up and Mark must've been able to tell from the strange look distorting her face.

"Dad, it's me Lexie. You called me first. Is everything alright? Dad, what's wrong?" She questioned, beginning to worry.

"I…I'm sorry I don't know who this is…You have the wrong number." He kept mixing up his words while speaking.

"Dad, I don't know what's wrong but I'm coming over. You stay put, don't move. I'll be there soon."

Mark began to open his mouth to ask what was wrong when Lexie clicked out of the call and sprinted into the parking lot. Mark called after her but she didn't respond and was already half way out of the lot. Lexie pulled up in front of her Dads house moments later. She ran up to the door and knocked twice without any answer. She twisted the knob and sure enough the door popped open. Lexie stepped inside, scared of what she may find. She could see her Dad sitting on the couch with his back towards her. What was wrong with him? God she hoped he wasn't pulling an Ellis Grey with early on-set Alzheimer's.

Lexie walked across the wooden floor towards him and clasped his shoulder between her hand in a caring way, "Da?" She began before Thatcher wildly whipped around while screaming. She was so startled that she didn't even see the bottle full of scotch come flying at her face. In the grasp of Thatcher's hand the glass bottle hit Lexie right on the head. The glass shattered and the alcohol sprayed her in the face, in the eyes. The pain was so intense. Lexie fell to the ground landing on her elbow on the hard flooring. A small gasp escaped her and the phone that was still in her hand scattered a few inches away from her. As her body came in contact with the ground, Lexie who was still in shock and barely knowing what had just happened saw everything flash before her very eyes. Her childhood spreading into teenage years and finally college, intern-ship, meeting Meredith, and most importantly…Mark. And just then her eyes reopened. Everything was terribly blurry. She could barely see a thing. In fact she couldn't see a thing. She could even see her father coming at her, drunken and clumsy he was. His foot went right into her abdomen as he kicked her multiple times between her screams, knocking the wind out of her until she finally passed out. That was when Thatcher stopped and staggered to the kitchen, heaving into the sink.

Meanwhile Mark had gotten back into his apartment where Julia was lecturing on something stupid that he didn't want to hear and couldn't concentrate on. He was worried about Lexie. It was driving him so crazy that he couldn't think about anything else. When Julia walked off while still talking to use the restroom he immediately grabbed his phone and dialed Lexie's number. It rang a few times before going to voicemail where Lexie's voice said she was busy and couldn't reach the phone but to try back again later. Mark sighed and waited for the beep to leave a message.

"Hey Lexie, it's Mark. I called because I was worried about you. I just wanted to know if everything was alright between you and your Dad."

Little did he know nothing was alright with Lexie. The loud ringing had awoken her from her unconscious state. The pain was spreading through her whole body as she struggled and strained to drag herself to the phone. She still couldn't see well and she could feel blood oozing down her face from her head. In the background she heard her father dialing 9-1-1. He's drunken voice ringing through the air as he told the person that a robber had just broken in. Was he that drunk that he didn't remember his own daughter? His voice was mixed with the ringing of her phone. She finally lurched forward with all her might, crying out from the pain in her arm, head and abdomen. But she'd gotten to the phone and answered, desperate for help. It was Mark. "Ma…Mark?" She pushed the words out of her throat. It was almost hard to speak. Tears were streaming down her face. Lifting her head off the ground made everything seem to swirl from the aching all over her skull. "Lexie, are you okay? " Mark pressed hearing the hurt in her voice.

"Nuh…No," Lexie cried. "Huh…Help," was all she could push out. Everything was swirling at the speed of sound. She felt high, in a bad way. Was she dying? She could tell when a patient was about to die but she couldn't even tell if she was. Mark started talking but Lexie couldn't hear him over the pulsing in her temples. Before she knew it she was falling back into unconsciousness as she fell forward to the ground. The phone again clattering on the floor as collapsed. Mark screamed for her to answer but nothing came. Terrified, he grabbed his jacket and fumbled into it and ran out the door. Not even telling Julia where he was going as she questioned him. Mak drove like a madman, running red lights, not stopping for signs, and pushing the speed limit all the way to Lexie's father's house. He saw her car and ran up the front stairs, barging into the house.

"Not another burglar!" Thatcher screamed.

"Shut up and stay where you are!" Mark yelled. The scared man did as he was told. Mark looked over and saw Lexie face down on the ground. A small pool of blood collected around her head. "No!" He yelped while starting to cry as he bent down and scooped her up in his arms. Her head and arms hung lifelessly. Her face was blank and pale; a few cuts were still bleeding. Mark brushed his hand against her face. She was alive, just out cold. He lifted her up, holding her like a sleeping princess as he walked out of the house, prepared to drive her to the hospital when he saw lights flashing down the street. Two ambulances and a cop car were driving furiously towards him. He stood and waited as they pulled up next to him. The medics got out and put Lexie on a stretcher. Blood was splattered all over Mark's clothes by now.

"I'm sorry sir, are you the one who called us in?" The young medic asked as he allowed Mark into the ambulance.

"No, not me. I was calling her," he pointed at Lexie, "She said she needed help so I came rushing here"

The man looked confused, "I'm sorry the burglar called you because she was in trouble and you were what going to get her out of here before we could?"

Mark's face dropped from shock and he almost laughed in the man's face. "I'm sorry, what? This woman right here is not a burglar in fact she is a surgeon at Seattle Grace Hospital so please take us there. I don't know what that man told you but she didn't break into that house. She once lived there because she is the man's daughter."

"We got a call from a man who gave us this address and said he was attacked by a woman who broke into his house so he knocked her unconscious." The confused paramedic said as others began attaching the still unconscious Lexie to machines.

"He probably said that because he is a recovering alcoholic who was clearly drunk tonight after being sober for I don't know how long. He's already had a liver transplant cause he drunk the other one into failure." Mark argued back.

"We'll take your word for it for now." He answered.

"Make sure they bring him to the hospital and don't let him out until we get him sober," Mark commanded.

"We'll tell them to do so," The paramedic agreed.

Mark then pulled out his phone and found Meredith's number. "Meredith, its Mark. Are you at the hospital?"

"No, my shifts over. It's almost ten o'clock. What's going on?" She answered.

"You need to get back to the hospital. You're Dad, he…let's just say he fell off the wagon again." Mark said watching the EMT's work. The ambulance then took off with the other cars following them.

"He's drunk?" Meredith questioned, rather surprised.

"Yeah. There's more than that but just get down here."

"Ok, but what do you want me to do?" She asked.

"You need to stay with him until he's sober. I know it sounds crazy, just trust me."

"Alright I'm on my way." She gave in and hung up.

Mark threw the phone into his pocket and focused on Lexie. He kneeled next to her and held her still hand. "C'mon Lexie wake up," He muttered, stroking her blood stained hair, his hysterically tears clouding his vision and judgement.

She started thrashing around, screaming in pain. The monitor started beeping furiously as her heart rate increased. That was when her eyes popped open. They were bloodshot and wide with fear. Her chest was heaving up and down. She must be delirious, unaware of what was going on. The paramedics fought to keep her calm. Her thrashing was just doing more damage to her already strained body. Even Mark was out of line and a third medic had to hold him away from their patient. As one medic tried to put an oxygen mask over her face something surprising happened. Lexie made a harsh heaving sound and thick, dark blood spurted from her mouth. Mark lunged forward knocking the medic over and landed at her side.

"What's happening?" He exclaimed his question.

"I'm not sure,"

Mark lifted her shirt off from her stomach to see deep purplish and yellow bruising all over her stomach. He was a doctor himself, he knew what this meant. Internal bleeding. What did the sonofabitch do to her?

End of Chapter one. Please leave comments, if i get enough positive response i'll continue on with this story. 


	2. Chapter 2: Emergency Surgery

Chapter 2: Emergency Surgery

As the ambulance pulled into the trauma wing of the hospital lot, Mark swung open the doors and hopped out. As they carefully unloaded Lexie, Mark ran ahead, barging into the trauma room. Bailey and Hunt were both doing paperwork for lack of action on the slow night working the pit. April was off in the corner as well tending to her days pile of charts. The vast ER room was only occupied by four other patients that night. All stable with minor injuries sustained, and all were taken or being taken care of. Nothing for the surgeons to cut, which was a rare in Seattle Grace. So when Mark came running in, stained with Lexie's blood and causing a commotion in the steady peace of calm late night in the hospital, it didn't go unnoticed. Mark looked like a mad man, raving in a loud uproar as he paced around with a spaced out look in his eyes.  
"I need surgeons now! Ready an OR!" He screamed around at nurses and other people he spotted.

Bailey got up from her chair and scuttled over to him, grabbing his arms to stop him from his madness, "Dr. Sloan, what's going on? You….You're covered in blood. What's happened to you?" She asked with concern.

"It's not me," He said, out of breath and panting. Bailey could see the hurt and fear in his eyes. " Its," But before he could give her the answer the medical technicians rushed in with Lexie on the gurney. She was intubated to help her breathe in her unconscious state. She looked so frail and lifeless to Mark. It was heart wrenching to see her in this way. She barely looked herself, she barely looked human. The blood was dried and plastered onto her skin and clothing.

"28 year old female," The male technician announced, "Found on the scene when a man called 9-1-1 for a break-in. She has trauma to the head and face as well as abdomen."

Bailey and hunt rushed over to see the patient but before they could connect that the patient was one of their doctors Mark released under his breath, "its Lexie,"

Bailey and Hunt's faces dropped as they latched onto the stretcher and moved with the techs, staring down at the familiar face our one of their well acquainted residents. The color was draining from her body so that she was ghastly looking behind the dark colored blood.

"Oh Lexie Grey," Bailey said, tears forming in her eyes. "Don't take another one of our surgeons. We've all been through enough here, don't you think?" she continued speaking to herself, or God, or whoever it was.

As they passed by the desk a nurse that had a phone held up to her ear informed that OR two was waiting for them. "Alright, let's go. MOVE IT PEOPLE!" Bailey hollered, coming out of her little personal chat.

Hunt had pulled back her shirt to examine the damage to her abdomen, "Alright I can already tell we're going to need to open her up. She's got bad bruising here and the tech says she already threw up blood. It sounds like internal bleeding in the stomach."

The doctors pushed furiously towards the operating room, clouded in fear and worry. Mark barely felt like he was himself, it was like an out of body experience. But it was real, this was happening. What if she died? No, Mark. He couldn't handle thinking that way. She was going to make it, she had to. He couldn't let her go now.

"I wanna know what happened here? What in the hell?" Bailey suddenly screamed in anger, "Lexie Grey is no burglar, unless she's been living some twisted kind of double life all along. This woman is a skilled, top-of-her-game surgeon. So what's the real story here?"

"Well the real story is that the dumbass who called it in as a robbery happens to be a very drunk Thatcher Grey, in fact he was so drunk that he didn't recognize his own daughter when she went to help him and so he clunked her in the head with a bottle of liquor," Mark answered in a loud, and mad voice.

Bailey cringed at the thought. She knew Thatcher Grey. She had known that he had once been a drunk, but she thought that after he had to get a liver transplant that he'd leave the nasty habit behind for good and only think about his own health. Well she must have overestimated that, because he was right back to his old tricks. Staring down at a bloody and banged up Lexie Grey made Bailey realize how cruel the world could be. And how she'd kill the man if it were her son that was lying on the bed rather than Lexie, assaulted by their own parent. The doctors came to the OR doors, but Bailey stopped and held Mark back.

"You can't go in there Mark," She said sympathetically. His face distorted to more anger.

"Why the hell not? I want to help! That is the woman I love in there. She's dying I need to be here to help save her Bailey. She isn't my family, I get to be in there," He cried out in angry yelps, making her jump.

"See Mark, that's just the thing. You are too emotionally connected to her Mark….You love her. The best thing you can do is wait for her up in the gallery, and be there for her to help her get better once we finish this surgery."

Mark was disappointed but he knew she was right. He wasn't emotionally fit for surgery right now. He'd gone through this same thing when Callie's life was on the line after her car crash.

"We'll do everything…I mean absolutely everything, possible to save her Mark," She said before turning around and entering the scrub room.

Meredith arrived in the hospital about twenty minutes after Mark's call. She'd found it strange that Mark had called her but she hadn't questioned.

"On my night off," She muttered under breath as she entered the doors to the hospital. She immediately went to the lady at the desk to ask if a patient under the name Thatcher Grey had arrived in the ER that night. The woman pointed in the direction of an area covered by a blue drapery. Meredith quickly walked across the almost empty emergency room to the exact area the nurse had pointed out and pulled back the privacy barrier to see her Dad with a look of drunken stupor. Oh yeah, he was under the influence alright. His, what is called a "banana bag", which is just an IV line that has vitamins and minerals, was almost half empty now. When Thatcher looked up his eyes were reddish, baggy and rolling back and forth, and his mouth was opened wide with a dribble of spit in the corner.

"Muh…Meredith!" He exclaimed in a boozed up, slurred and overly excited voice.

"Dad? What is going on?" Meredith said calmly so it wouldn't aggravate him, as she bent down next to him. She knew drunks were prone to fits of rage for no apparent reason.

"Uh I," Thatcher said between burps, "I just had a little to drink honestly."

"This isn't like the new you Dad. Why'd you do this? What did Dr. Sloan say to you? He's the one who called me. Where did he go?" Meredith asked, wanting to know more about what'd happened with her father.

"I didn't talk to no one by that name," He answered while hiccupping and staring into space.

"Are you sure?" Meredith said in confusion, not sure if he could be trusted in this state.

"I only talked to the police and that nice nurse lady and the loud ambulance guy,"

Now Meredith was extremely confused. What the hell was he talking about? Police and ambulance? Mark hadn't said anything about either of those? He'd sounded out of breath and scared and she thought she'd heard something loud in the background but she couldn't be sure. She needed to find him.

She called Mark's cell phone but got no answer. Strange. Then she started wondering where Lexie was, and why on earth Mark would go to her first instead of the daughter that cared about Thatcher more. Was she in the OR maybe? And Mark didn't want to worry her during a surgery? But now he wasn't answering his phone.

"Dad, where's Lexie?" Meredith came forward and asked after clicking out of the call to Mark. But Thatcher just stared around the room in his daze. "Dad?" Meredith asked again without an answer back. Right then a nurse walked by and Meredith grabbed her attention.

"Excuse me Miss, I know you're probably busy but this is urgent. Dr. Mark Sloan isn't answering his cell phone or pager; I need you to find a way to get a hold of him. Tell him Meredith Grey needs him in the ER if he's not in a surgery or something. He might know something about my Dad,"

The nurse nodded and then left. When Meredith looked back at her Dad who was squirming in the hospital bed she noticed something that struck her very odd, extremely odd. His left hand was cuffed to the railing on the bed.

"Dad, why do you have that hand-cuff?" She asked.

"The police said he didn't wanna risk me wandering away because he needed to question me about the break-in. He said he was coming back soon after the bitch that tried to attack me gets out of surgery."

Nothing was making sense now. Where in the hell was Mark? She thought to herself.

Mark watched in dismay in the gallery as Hunt and Bailey and Kepner all operated on her. The thought that she was laying there open on the table with other people's hands inside her body. Sewing her up. It made him sick. He didn't ever realize how sickening it was until now.

It made him come to a conclusion though. One he thought he knew all along subconsciously, but tried to hide away. She was the one. She was the one that he loved; the one he cherished and adored the girl he wanted to be with most on this planet and the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. No matter the obstacles or circumstances, he wanted to always wake up next to her and have a family with her, not Julia. But now she was fighting for her life and he couldn't do anything about it but watch. And she could possibly die without him ever getting the chance to tell her what he felt.

"Excuse me, Dr. Mark Sloan?" Mark heard a female voice call his name. He turned his view to the door where a woman in nurse scrubs was standing halfway inside the gallery and halfway out in the hallway.

"Yeah," He confirmed.

"I'm sorry to bother you; we've been trying to reach you for quite a while. A Meredith Grey is in the ER. She's been looking for you; she says you might know something about her Dad."

"Uh yeah," Mark said forcing himself up out of the seat and wiping his teary eyes.

Mark walked back to the ER where Meredith spotted him and called him over to the bed where her father was.

"Oh Mark, thank God, you need to help me out here. I can't make sense of anything he's saying."

"Where's Derek?" Was the first thing he said, with confusion, and Meredith almost thought she could see tears in his eyes.

"Well, I…He had to stay home because of…Zola. There wasn't anyone else who could stay with her and we didn't want to lug her up here this late."

"You need to get him up here!" Mark exclaimed sounding angry.

"Can I please know what's going on here? What the hell?" Meredith shouted, "This one's talking about police and a break-in. I'm really confused here! Why did you call me Mark? Where is my sister? She never came home tonight and I thought she'd said she was off early because she didn't have any surgeries scheduled and now she's M.I.A.! I can't find the policeman that my Dad's talking about so I don't know if he made this all up or not but he's hand-cuffed to the bed! Can you explain to me?"

"He's hand-cuffed because I told them to make sure he did not leave this hospital." Mark answered.

"That's it? That can't be it!" Meredith shouted more. That was when she noticed April walking up behind them.

"Uh April, do you know anything?" Meredith called to her. As April came closer she noticed that she was teary eyed as well, and on the verge of crying. What was going on here? She thought. Nothing was adding up.

"Meredith," She said in a feeble voice. "It's ...its L...Lexie. We had to rush her into emergency surgery. You're Dad almost killed her,"

Those words. You're Dad almost killed her. Meredith felt like she'd just been punched in the gut. She could see that both of them had blood on themselves. Oh God no, it couldn't be. She had to be alright. April did say almost killed, not that he did kill. She was alive then.

"What the hell? Where is she? Where is my sister? What did that bastard do to her?" She screamed, breaking down into tears. By now Mark was crying a bit too, not as bad as the girls though.

"I want to see her. Is she still in surgery?" Meredith asked.

"We handled the internal bleeding. When I left they were taking her to her room to be monitored for the night. They don't know how bad the head trauma is, she… She might have permanent damage Meredith." April cried.

The three of them rushed to Lexie's room where they were still getting her settled in. Bailey and Hunt turned to see the three of them, all hysterical. Meredith's mouth was hung open as she looked at her sister who was comatose in the bed. Machines hooked up to her were beeping obnoxiously.

Bailey walked over to Meredith and embraced her, "Meredith, she's alright for now. Everything is stable but, she just…She hasn't woken up yet… She was barely conscious for more than a minute since it happened. Derek can assess her and then figure out what we're going to do."

"I need to know what happened. I mean, how did this happen?" Meredith cried out between choking sobs.

"Mark is the only one that knows." Bailey said staring at him. He was crying now. Truly crying.

He walked into the room and stopped next to Lexie. She looked peaceful in her sleep. Mark pushed her bangs out of her face. They'd clean her up so she didn't look as bad with all that blood covering her but now you could see all the cuts and stitches on her.

"I'll tell you everything alright. But we need the police in here to record it cos I can't relive the whole thing more than once more." Mark answered, stroking the side of Lexie's face.

Once the officers were found they were brought into Lexie's room and Mark had himself prepared to relive the dreadful heart aching experience again.

"Me and Lexie were leaving Seattle Grace at the same time last night. We rode the elevator down together and right as we were about to go into the parking lot her phone rang. I waited for her while she answered it but she sounded frantic and confused while she was talking. I'd heard her say 'Dad' that was when I knew it was Thatcher on the line. When she hung up I tried to talk to her but she printed into the lot and was gone before I could catch up. I didn't know where she was going but I'd figured something was up with her Dad and she was going to fix it but I was still worried. I phoned her after a fight with my girlfriend Julia because it was all I could think of. It went to voicemail and as I was leaving a message she picked up. But all her words were nonsense, like she couldn't talk, but I heard her say help. I booked it to Thatcher's and found her there, unconscious and bleeding to death. That sonofabitch was so drunk that he didn't recognize her or something and knocked her out and kicked her while she was down." Mark told the whole story, keeping himself together pretty well except for a few parts where he had to stop to calm himself. "He's responsible for her if she dies."

Meredith brushed away her tears and cleared her throat, "Call Derek now,"

End of Chapter 2 (Chapter three will be on its way )


	3. Chapter 3: When You Wake

Chapter Three: When You Wake

"What happened?" The shocked and out of breath voice of Derek Shepherd sounded off in the doorway of Lexie's now crowded hospital room. Upon entering, Bailey removed Zola from the startled man's arms so he could comfort his upset wife. Meredith wept uncontrollably into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, wrapping her up in a warming consoling embrace.

Mark was still sitting next to Lexie, holding her hand between his, rapid thoughts firing through his head. All he could do now was pray. Pray to God that she'd pull through this. Derek sat Meredith back down in her chair and handed her a box of tissues which she accepted and used to blow her nose into and wipe her tears.

"I'll examine her neurological functions," Derek announced, approaching the bed. Meredith nodded and continued to dry her eyes. Derek didn't have all the correct supplies since he was in his plain clothes and not in uniform, but he could wing it for now. He pulled a small flashlight out and opened Lexie's eyelids to observe the pupils.

"I notice during the surgery that she had a pretty badly dislocated shoulder. I think we should call in Torrres. She could fix it while Lexie's comatose so it won't cause her more discomfort…If she wakes up," Hunt stepped forward from his silence to tell Shepherd.

"When," Derek interjected to correct him.

Derek wasn't one to make assumptions on a patient but Lexie wasn't just a patient, she was family and Hunt's insensitivity in front of all these grieving people had angered him.

"Sorry…When," Hunt responded.

"Yeah we can do that; I'm going to need a head CT before I can determine anything further,"

"I'll call Callie," Mark said abruptly, causing everyone to turn their heads toward him.

"I can do that," Hunt butted in, trying to save Mark the trouble.

"No…It's alright…I need to talk to her right now," He retorted, looking down at Lexie and heaving a deep sigh.

"Uh lets step out so they can have time alone," Bailey said to Hunt and Kepner, pushing them towards the door after sensing that they were unwanted at the moment and that the three needed time alone with Lexie. "We'll go take Zola on a nice little walk around the hospital," She said, directing it toward Zola while talking in a 'baby' voice.

Mark pulled out his cell phone and dialed Callie's cell number. It was hard for him to speak between his sobs so he tried to keep himself together while the line rang. Finally the other end clicked and Callie's voice answered.

"Callie, I need you at the hospital…Something's happened. We need your help,"

"What is it? You okay? You sound upset." She asked with concern.

"Yeah," Mark had to bite his lip to keep the tears back, but as he found himself saying _**it's Lexie **_they just came gushing down his face like a waterfall.

"Ok I'm on my way. I'm just leaving the apartment. What happened?"

"It's a long story but she hasn't woken up yet. She just came out of surgery not long ago so they said to give it time. She has blunt force trauma to the head and a shoulder dislocation that you can fix for now. She had internal bleeding but Bailey, Hunt and Kepner fixed." Mark explained the best he could.

"Alright, I'm in the parking lot. I'm in my car now. I'll be there in minutes. How are you holding up?" She said with concern.

"I've been better," Mark admitted with a chuckle of insanity. "I'm…I'm scared. I mean, I'm really really scared. For her. She looks so pale and…lifeless. It reminds me of when you were in the same place. How I feared you'd never come back. That I'd lose you. I can't go through this again."

"Ok, I know its hard Mark but just remember, I made it through! I woke up when all odds were against me. That's what's going to happen with Lexie, alright? I can't make you that promise, but I can tell you that it' what I believe." Callie tried to cheer him up and assure him, but honestly she couldn't make that assumption. She hadn't even seen the damage. She had no idea what kind of damage Lexie had sustained.

Callie showed up to the hospital moments later, rushing into the room to find Mark, Derek and Meredith inside. Mark stood up at her presence and she ran up to hug him. She comforted him in her arms, feeling sadness herself. As Mark wept into her shoulder she saw Lexie. She looked bad. So bad that it shocked her. She hadn't expected this, but then again how do you expect something so bad?

"I'm so sorry," She whispered into his ear.

Mark wiped his nose on the sleeve of his shirt, "She can't die Callie. She just can't. Not yet."

"I know, I know," Callie responded. "Here, let me check her out," She let go of him and ambled to Lexie's side with the out of place shoulder. She lifted the swollen bruised and reddish arm to examine the fracture closely.

"As well as the shoulder she also has a badly shattered elbow. I'm guessing it'll need surgery to fix but we'd be best to wait until she recovers more before putting her under again. I can take care of the shoulder now, but you aren't going to like it so maybe you should all step into the hallway for a moment." Callie recommended. Derek and Meredith did so but Mark was stubborn.

"I'm not leaving her side," He said, sitting in a chair next to her bed and holding her hand up to his chin.

"Al right if you say so Mark, but just remember that I told you. At least look away Sweetie, you're not gonna want to see this."

He turned his head as she snapped Lexie's shoulder back into socket but even so just the harsh, ear-splitting pop and crunching sound of the bone was nauseating enough to make his heart sink.

"I'm gonna go take to Meredith and Derek and find the other surgeons." Callie said, pointing towards the door and offering a half-smile before leaving.

Now Mark had his time alone with her. He could get what he had to say off his chest. He looked her square in the face, squeezing her hand firmly.

"Lex, it's me Mark. I'm right here. I'm here for you. I'll be here every moment that you're hurting. Next to your side. I'll wait for you. I've been waiting for what seems like an eternity, so I can wait a little longer. But you gotta promise me, you have to promise you'll get better. Don't give up, you have to hold on. We're all rooting for you. If you can do that for me, I promise you, I promise I will be right here, holding your hand to greet you….When you wake."

End of Chapter Three 


	4. Chapter 4: Help her get back to us

Chapter 4: Help her get back to us

Callie, Derek, and Meredith all stepped back into the room seconds after Mark finished up making his promise to the unconscious body of Lexie. Two policemen entered minutes later, both males, one a tall, black, respectable looking officer and the other a well-built but still very young man. He was maybe in his late twenties.

Meredith almost lunged forward at them, but Derek held her arms behind her back to keep her from attacking them.

"Where is he? Where is that rat-bastard? Is he still downstairs? I wanna give him a piece of my mind. I want him locked up in rehab or better yet prison. He's dangerous; he's a threat to anyone near him. I will be pressing charges against him. You hear me?"

"Please calm down Ma'am. We came up here to check on the patient and talk to you about this whole ordeal, alright? We have to do this civilly if we want to get it done proficiently." The mid forty year old, respectable looking officer said, keeping his voice calm and neutral. "Is the patient doing alright? She's stable I presume?"

"NO!" Meredith fired back trying to squirm and wriggle her way out of Derek's tight grip on her shoulders. "She's not alright. She's in a freaking coma! She had to have SURGERY. He almost KILLED her."

"I'm very sorry Ma'am. I know what you must be going through. My name is Lieutenant Lance Dennings. The man held his hands out to keep Meredith back, "I just want to help here, but assaulting an officer is in no way alright either. Wouldn't want to have to arrest you so please, let's just all take a deep breath and stay calm now."

Meredith inhaled and then exhaled deeply. Her tense and rigid body slowly loosened as she released her breath until she was standing still no longer screaming and bickering in an insane rampage.

"See, that's good," officer Dennings said quietly with a smile that showed off his pearly teeth. "You must be the…" He said waiting for her to finish his sentence.

"Sister," Meredith responded almost immediately, now entranced on the ground, as crystally tears welled in her eyes, warping her vision. "I'm her half sister, Meredith Grey. We're all surgeons here in this hospital. She announced, looking up at him and letting the tears roll down her cheek as she motioned her hand around the room pointing to Callie, Mark, Lexie and Derek.

"But which of you rode the ambulance in with her?" The younger, unspoken rookie asked pointing between both Derek and Mark. "The EMT we talked to said it was a male."

"It was me," Mark raised his shaky hand.

"Can we take a statement? It will be real quick,"

"I already talked to the police," He blurted out, "I don't think I'm ready to leave her side just yet."

"I know but we have to hear the statement from you to avoid any issues that could pop up. We can step right into the hallway, she'll still be in clear view," The tougher looking rookie with the large stubbly face said sounding very professional and almost as if he were experienced.

Mark nodded his head and slowly stood from the chair, rubbing his clammy hands on his jeans and then nervously scratching the side of his chin. He obeyed the police, even if he didn't want to have to talk about this again. Each time was harder and harder on him.

While Mark stepped out, Meredith and Derek waited inside, now standing at the foot of Lexie's bed. Callie had left to take care of a few things and the other three surgeons had yet to return with Zola. So Meredith and Derek stood awkwardly, listening to the eerie beeps of the machine's that were literally making Lexie breathe and monitoring her vitals to make sure she wasn't going into D-fib or anything else.

Why was this hospital so screwed up? Meredith wondered as she stood, looking at her sister who she feared she was losing. It was like some universal curse had been bestowed on the place. Murphy's Law, anything that can happen… will, was definitely in play here. Bomb's in body cavities, George getting hit by a bus, ambulances crashing into each other and into the trauma center, terrible shootings, and floods. Accidents really seemed to revolve around the staff here.

Meredith tried to listen into the conversation happening outside but they were too far away for here to hear them. Then all of a sudden she heard her name being called out. She knew that voice, it was Cristina Yang. Meredith turned to see her best friend standing in the doorway in a pair of scrubs with a remorseful look on her face.

"I was…Working a surgery with… Altman. When I got out the hospital was buzzing with news about one of our surgeons getting assaulted, and that they were just out of surgery. When they said it was Lexie I didn't want to believe them..I..Guess," She tried to talk but her words just came out wrong and awkward so she stopped herself.

"It's true." Meredith finished her sentence, nearly choking on her tears as she tried to speak.

Yang stepped inside to look at the damage closer. "Well what in the hell happened to her?"

Derek could tell Meredith was in no condition mentally or emotionally, maybe even physically to be talking about it so he answered for her.

"Thatcher was drunk. Lexie tried to help him. He was so intoxicated that he didn't know who she was and attacked her, thinking she was a burglar or something. She is alive for now though. We hope it'll stay that way. I'll assess her in the morning….to see what we'll do. She might wake up before then though."

"Oh…My….Well…what're they doing with him? With Thatcher?" Yang pressed for information. Derek held Meredith close and looked up at her with a look that said it wasn't the time, "We're not sure," He retorted. "We aren't just gonna let this slide though…That's for sure,"

Yang stepped closer and laid her hand on Meredith's back while looking at Lexie. Lexie had been her intern. She'd almost been jealous of the girl when she'd first come in. Her photographic memory, her intelligence in general, even just her personality. Now she was lying in a hospital bed with tubes down her throat and machines breathing for her. It just wasn't fair. Life wasn't fair. Even the best of people are dragged through the worst things. In fact it almost seems like it happens to the good more than the bad.

Then she knelt down beside Meredith, they looked into each other's eyes. Meredith could find comfort in simply a smile from her best friend. Even a tear had formed in Cristina's eye. It was an emotional night for everyone. Cristina knew she had to say something to Meredith to make her feel better. She just had to think of what that something was. There were so many things she could say, but choosing one would be the real dilemma.

"She is a good person." Was what she started with. "She's gonna come out of this. I can feel it; because Lexie…She's…She is a fighter. We've trained her well. She's learned it from her big sister. She knows how to survive. She is a Grey. And I know those Grey's real well. And they don't let go easily. They hold on until the very last moment that they can, they don't drop out before their time. They will keep holding on until their fingers slip off the edge and they fall before they give up. And Lexie's gonna do that too. Cause right now, she's….she isn't even half way there alright? She's still got a strong grip; she's still got a lot of energy in her; the adrenaline is still keeping her where she's at and you know she…she isn't gonna let go until she absolutely has to. And we're not going to let her either. We're going to help her no matter what other obstacles are thrown at us, alright? So don't…Don't just sit there at the end of her bed feeling sorry. You've already had to sit at her bedside like this before…When she had her breakdown. Lexie…She's one of those people that need a lot of close-contact comfort. She needs to be held, and hugged, and cuddled and whatnot. Hold her hand, and tell her that you are here waiting for her. She doesn't get to die today; she isn't ready, we aren't ready, no one's ready. We aren't finished with her yet." Yang smiled, still tearing up as she held her friend's hands and spoke from her heart to her, "She doesn't get to leave us yet because she has unfinished business here. She still has to complete her residency, and pass her boards, and choose a specialty, and…she has to get married, and start a family and all of those things. Help her…Help her get back to us."

Meredith took a long hard look at her best friend and knew that she was right. Now was not the time for her to be a cry baby, she had to help her sister. She needed to be by her side coaxing herto stay with her. She loved her sister. She did. Even if their relationship started out crappy, she'd grown and she'd bonded with her and come to be very fond of her.

Meredith stood up from the chair, letting Derek's hand slip from the back of her neck. He watched as she sat down next t her baby sister and took hold of her hand, squeezing it tight in her own. Fighting back tears, she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She reopened her eyes as she exhaled.

"I know that I wasn't always a good sister, heck I might not even be the definition of a 'good sister' right now either, but I do know that I love you. You are my family. You are a joy to me every day that you've been in my life. I took it for granted at first and wouldn't let myself like you, or be close to you, but deep down inside I always liked you. They only thing that kept me from showing that I liked you was our dad. I didn't want to like you because of him and now look at how ironic this is, he's the one tearing us apart again. We're all here Lexie, and you're the only one who's not. Come back to us. Please, just come back. We're going to be here the whole time to help you get back. I swear it, but Goddamit you do not die on me. You are all that I have left. You are my only family. And I know that we still have our dad and your sister but really she isn't my sister. I don't know her like I know you, and honestly I don't really want to know her like I know you. You're the only sister that's here in my heart. You've been a good…friend, because that's what you are Lex, you're my friend. Despite what you might believe, we are friends, not just siblings. So you take your time, and you heal and we'll be waiting, so don't worry."

With that they could hear the door open, every one turned to see Mark as he returned from his interview with the cops.


	5. Chapter 5: Have you no Decency?

Chapter 5:

"How'd it go?" Derek spoke up and asked.

"I never want to have to tell that story again." He said solemnly. Meredith moved over so that Mark could take her place. She knew that it was what Lexie would've wanted. Mark to be at her side fighting for her life.

It wasn't long before Bailey finally returned with happy Zola in her arms. Meredith immediately got up and grabbed her baby, squeezing and rocking her in her arms. She thanked Bailey who nodded as response and then stood in the back of the room to show some support for her fellow surgeons. Mark was still sitting next to Lexie, holding her hand up his mouth, kissing it ever so gently while mumbling to her. He was a wreck, he was rocking back and forth like a mad person, there was a light sweat beading his forehead and his eyes were extremely wide and bloodshot.

Callie than walked in next, her hands in the pockets of her white lab coat. She walked all the way to Mark and bent down to talk to him. She whispered in his ear, "Mark, you need to stop this. I know that you love her and I know that you are upset but this isn't good for you okay. Maybe you should go to the cafeteria and get something to eat to take your mind off of this. Sitting here all night waiting isn't going to help. Come on I'll go with you," She coaxed.

"NO!" Mark screamed abruptly, slapping her arm off of his shoulder. Every one's attention was on them now. Mark gave a remorseful look to a rather frightened Callie Torres for his agitation towards her trying to help him.

"I…I'm sorry. I'm just a little on edge here; I didn't mean to...react …like that. I just…I…I can't…leave. I know that I'm not helping myself by doing this but it's not about me. It's about her. I love her and I'm not going to let her wake up and find me not here, I want her to wake up and know how much I care about her. I'm not gonna risk missing that. I've messed up enough times with Lexie to the point where she probably hated my guts for what I did to her; I've got to correct that somehow."

Callie gave him a nod and said she understood, "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pressured you. I just don't want you beating yourself up for this."

"What if she doesn't wake up Callie?" Mark asked abruptly, looking up to his good friend, "Or what if she isn't the same?"

"To be honest, I don't know. I can't tell you anything because I really have no idea." She said truthfully.

Derek stood up and began to check Lexie again, "I'm still not gettingmuch of a response from her," He looked around at all the people sitting in the room and then sighed, "If she doesn't respond in some kind of way within the next 24 hours….I …I don't think there will be much for us to do. She could be brain dead from the trauma. I don't want to think this way, I know it's hard but we have to be realistic with this. I suggest that if she doesn't wake up…That no extraordinary measure be taken to keep her alive if she should start to…code."

Everyone looked at Derek like he was insane with faces of horror and despair but Mark gave him a sinister look of anger. He stood up rapidly and screamed, "No! That is not your choice Derek! You don't know what she would've wanted. Life, she would've wanted life. You don't get to take that away from her. We are not signing a DNR. If she should code we will do everything in our power to try and save her, alright? We aren't just gonna unplug her and let her die. I don't care if it takes her a day or a hundred years. She deserves a chance. Just because she's hurt doesn't mean she can't heal. It's barely been a few hours and you're already deciding her fate? This is insane. Why are we even talking about this?" He said with emotion and gesticulating arm motions.

"Because Mark we need to. If we don't do it now when are we…When she's dead? This is real-life Mark. And in real-life people die. That is part of nature and if Lexie should happen to die then there is nothing more we could do. You need to open your eyes and see this!" Derek screamed back at him. They both gave each other death glares until Bailey chose to break up the fighting.

"You two stop it! Stop this. You're fighting over a girl's life like she's not even part of the decision. Lexie Grey is one of us. She is all of you guy's friend and for some of you she is more than that. She is not a toy, or a pawn in your little games. She is a human being. And you're fighting and picking over her like a bunch of wild, hungry hyenas. Neither of you get to chose what you'd rather do because you are not qualified to do so. Meredith is her family. It is Lexie's family's choice. Since her dad will not be making any decisions for his daughter that leaves it to Meredith. So stop acting like children and let this girl be. There's no need to jump into conclusions, we're going to wait it out and then decide what's going to be done. Alright?"

Everyone agreed. This whole fight had probably only even started in the first place because of how worried everyone was. The room was in a state of awry. People were still bickering back and forth despite what Bailey had just said. Zola began to cry from the volume and anger in the room which added to the disruptiveness. In the background Hunt could be seen as he barged into the room with a puzzled look upon his face.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?" He yelled, louder than everybody else, "This is a hospital and you people are doctors. You should know better. You are not the only people in this place, there are other patients trying to rest and there are other people grieving but they aren't disrupting the entire building. Get it together and stop arguing. Have you no decency? She's barely holding on, all this screaming isn't going to help what's going to help is if you _**doctors**_ do your job and figure out _**how **_to save her. I am the Chief of this hospital, I make the rules…Not you,"

Everyone was stunned by the man's crazy reaction. They all stared him down as he turned around and left. Every single person, even Zola had gone completely silent. That was rude, but maybe he was right. They were fighting like children; this wasn't the way it should be. They should just be supporting her through it all until the very end.

In all the silence Mark spoke out first, he had gone back to Lexie and was holding her hand again, "I don't care what any of you think; she's going to make it. She's strong; she has been through a lot. She knows how to fight for herself." And then he looked at her face, tears welling up again. He brushed his hand through her hair, and smiled. "You can do it Little Grey,"

Everyone smiled at this. Lexie had been forever dubbed as "Little Grey," it definitely stuck, and had become like a nickname for her. It was the nickname that Mark had originally made up just to tell the two apart, now it was a part of his life.

Within the next few hours people slowly began to filter out. Yang was first to leave because she had an early morning and needed at least a few hours of sleep before her next shift started. Then Bailey because she'd left Tuck home with Ben and didn't want to burden him any longer. Callie was next so she could get home to Sofia before it was time for Arizona to leave for work. She was reluctant from seeing Mark in such a horrific state, but she had other responsibilities too. Meredith was falling asleep on Derek's shoulder and Zola had clunked out in her Daddy's arms long ago, when Derek whispered to her "Meredith,"

"What?" She answered groggily and opened her eyes.

"It's almost 4am. You should go home and get some rest; I can stay here with Lexie… It'll be fine. You need your rest; this is taking a lot out of you. The last thing you need is to be sleep deprived.

Derek tried to stand up but Meredith said no. "Come on. You can take Zola home so she can sleep too. I'll drive you and come back. Mark can stay here with her in the meantime. It's going to be fine. She's going to be fine."

Meredith was still reluctant to leave but she stood up anyways and walked over to where Mark was standing. She laid her hand on top of Lexie's leg that was covered by a thin hospital blanket. She looked at her long and hard and said, her voice cracking, "You'd better be here when I come back, you hear me?"


	6. Chapter 6: Carrying a Burden

Chapter 6: Carrying a Burden

Derek, Meredith and Zola had all left, and once again it was just Mark and Lexie in the room. He hated to admit, but he liked it this way. No one was in the way of him being able to say what he really felt. He just hoped that Lexie could hear him. He hoped she was actually listening to him. The room was quiet and peaceful. He could actually think straight without all of the people yelling and screaming and trying to tell him what to do, as if they knew. They didn't know what he was going through. They didn't know just how torn up his was about this. The love of his life, the girl he always thought he was destined to be with, but the one he could never make it work with and always seemed to be hurting…She was in a near death state. She might not ever wake up again. He might not ever get to see her, as her again. Because right now it didn't even feel like the person lying in the bed was the alive and beautiful Lexie he knew. What if he never got to tell her? What if he never got to show how much he truly loved her? Even through all their break-ups and fighting he'd always assumed something, or always had it at the back of his mind….Them him and Lexie would end up together one day, and be the happiest couple. And now what…What if that fantasy was shattered forever?

At that moment Mark felt a buzzing in his pocket. He reached in a grabbed his cell phone. The screen read 11 missed calls, 14 new messages and 4 new voicemails. _**Oh crap**_. Only one person they could be from. Julia. He braced himself for all the anger and worry he was about to hear as he listened to the voicemails. Thank God there were only 4 of them. The first one was probably the worst. "MARK! Where the hell are you! I came out of the bathroom and you were just gone! Are you alright? Did something happen? Are you at the hospital? Was it a patient? I…I just don't understand. Why the hell wouldn't you say something before running out like that? I'm really starting to worry. Please call me back. SOON."

He clicked to play the next one, "Mark seriously, I am not joking I NEED TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE NOW! I'm going out of my mind here. I…I don't know what to do. I'm tempted to call the police or something. Please answer your phone. I don't know what's happening or if you're in a surgery or something…Heck I'm half convinced you're lying in a ditch somewhere. Call me."

He didn't pay much attention to the next two but they progressively got angrier and louder. He read the texts; most of them were the same thing, "Call me now. This is Urgent." "Where are you?" "Why won't you answer?" "Pick up your phone." "I'm worried sick, please Mark answer me now,"

He finally just deleted his inbox without even reading the rest. He couldn't. He couldn't think about her right now. And he couldn't talk to her right now either, so he wasn't going to call her back. He knew it was a horrible thing. He hated that he had to leave her to worry but he had bigger things on his mind right now.

Derek drove Meredith and Zola home, trying to focus on the road as he drove. He helped Meredith and carried his sleeping little girl inside. Immediately after he found himself getting back in the car and yet again driving back to the hospital. The exhaustion was just starting to set in. It had already been a long day on top of this. He could barely keep his eyes open as he drove. He didn't want to be doing this. He just wanted to be home for the night, but this was a family emergency and these are the kinds of things you do for your family. He just hoped he'd have enough energy left over to perform surgeries the next day. He'd need some on-call room time for sure.

Derek entered through the front doors in the lobby and walked through the ER on his way back to Lexie's room, out of curiosity as to what Thatcher was doing. He ambled down checking the bed's for his so-called 'father-in-law', not spotting him until he heard, "Oh, Doctor Shepherd!" from behind him.

Thatcher. Just the person he was looking for. Derek strutted back to his bedside, keeping his facial expressions straight. "Hey, I'm a little confused here. I was wondering if you could help me. I've been calling out for a nurse but no one seems to me here, or I don't know…No one's come to help. Everything's been happening so fast, I honestly don't even know how I got here. I was a little upset today for…Some personal reasons. I can't remember what…happened, I… I was in my house and then next thing I was here when I woke up. Did I fall or something? Am…am I hurt? I don't think I can take another medical scare. Oh that reminds me...WH…Where's my daughter…Well _**daughters? **_"He asked, acting all smiley and being totally oblivious. Did he really not remember anything? It was just like the last time he showed up drunk and made Meredith feel bad for him. He was sick. That's what he was. Derek didn't care how bad his life had been or how depressed he'd become after his wife died. He was a drunk and he'd always been one. Sometimes Derek wondered just how long he had been a substance abuser. It could've gone all the way back to when Lexie was just a little kid. Derek gave a long, awkward pause with his solemn angry expression. Eventually Thatcher's stupidly happy looking face began to slowly fade into a puzzled one.

"Well," Derek finally broke his silence abruptly, "The daughter that is married to me, Meredith in case you forgot her name, she's at home with our daughter sound asleep. She's fine, but she's still a little upset. And your other daughter…Well she's upstairs actually," Derek side, lifting his head up at the stairs down the hall. "She's lying in a hospital in a coma because some sick bastard nearly bashed her SKULL IN with a GLASS BOTTLE." He said emphatically, his face showing his fury at last. And with that he left, taking in the shocked look on Thatcher's face. It was priceless to see the man finally realize he'd done something wrong. He wasn't sure if Thatcher had made the connection that he himself was the sick bastard that assaulted his own child, but he was satisfied enough by the reaction he'd gotten.

On his way up Derek picked up two cups of coffee with a lot of sugar to help keep him and Mark awake for the rest of the night, or rather the morning since it was just past 6 AM. Mark was in the same place as he'd been in when Derek had first left, and thankfully so was Lexie. That was a relief in the least sense to walk in and find. At least she was still here, she was still alive and she was still stable.

"How is she?" Derek asked through the silence of the room grabbing Mark's attention as he turned in his seat to face the visitor.

"She's good," Mark nodded, "She's the same."

"Here," Derek offered one of the cups to Mark, holding it out to him.

"Uh…No," Mark denied it, "I'm fine…Really, I'm fine." Mark said turning his hand and waving his hand.

Derek smirked and then replied, "Come on, you need a pick me up. You look like you haven't sleep in a year," moving the cup even closer to Mark's face, as a taunting gesture.

Mark quickly turned back and looked at Derek with a "Are you kidding me?" expression. He finally accepted the coffee and retorted, "So you do. I never thought a person could get a 5 o'clock shadow in a matter of 5 hours."

They both chuckled a bit, and it felt good to laugh. Even one ounce of happiness felt like a huge lift on their burden, but it didn't last long. The moment flew by as fast as it had flown in. And then they were back to their straight faces, and back to their grieving stage. They'd both gone silent, and were back to watching over Lexie when Mark made a surprising conversation, "Julia called." He'd let out so suddenly that Derek was almost startled. Mark was staring at the floor now, as if it were hard for him to talk about…Or maybe awkward. "Well she left a bunch of messages. I didn't answer though…I…I couldn't bring myself to answer. I can't talk to her right now…I just…I can't. I can't even let myself _**think **_about her. It's like I don't really _**want **_to be thinking about her. Just Lexie….Lexie is the only thing I want to be thinking of right now. And relishing though memories we shared and hoping that there are more to come. I don't want this to be my last memory of her. And I listened to Julia's voice and it's like, I couldn't even…I just…It made me legitimately angry to hear her. And she sounded angry too but I just…I wanted to throw my phone across the room so no I don't think I could handle having an actual conversation with her because right now I can't even listen to her fricking voice without wanted to explode because I have to be hearing her talk _**instead **_of Lexie…And I know it's horrible but I can't stand that. I don't want Julia to be worried like she is right now, well like we both are…But I can't face her."

Derek had sat patiently and listened to his friend's rant. He was seeing such changes in Mark. He'd become a man, and not just a really old teenage boy like Derek had always thought. He wanted to help his friend now, because he really needed it…And he deserved it.

"She's just worried. She doesn't know where you're at?" Derek asked, assuming so.

"No…I kinda left in a hurry so I din't get the chance to say anything to her before I went out,"

Derek nodded, understanding him. "Here gimme the phone…I'll go talk to her. I'll step out and call her for you so she at least knows that you're safe. I'll handle it," He said holding his hand out for Mark to give him the cellular device.

"You…you don't have to," Mark shook his head.

"It's okay, I want to," Derek announced, "I want to do this for my dear friend because I have a burden of my own that I've been carrying and I want to somehow make that up to you." And then he took the phone out of Mark's palm.

"Burden? What burden are you talking about?" Mark inquired with furrowed eyebrows, staring down his friend.

"I knew," Derek answered blatantly, "I knew something that…if I had told you it could've maybe changed this outcome for you and Lexie."

"Well what the hell did you know? Stop being so mysterious, come out with it!"

Derek fumbled to actually speak for a moment and then said, "Eh, it was that…Lexie…She still loves you. And of course I know you probably already knew that. The both of you would never really stop loving each other but she…She wanted another chance with you. She'd been holding back though because she didn't want to break up your happiness. She was trying to protect you because she didn't think she was good enough. She knew that you both wanted…Other things, and she wasn't sure if she could ever adapt to your lifestyle so she, she tried to repress her feelings. But it wasn't working and it was definitely tearing her up a bit. She was a mess. Some days I could just see it in her face, how much agony she was in… Over you. And I never did anything. I should've told you, I should've pushed Lexie towards you instead of trying to hold her back. And now…I have to live with that…And I'm very sorry."

Mark looked stunned, but swallowed and responded with, "No. It's not your fault. Don't think that. You didn't do anything wrong. Thank you, thank you for telling me that though."

"No problem." Derek replied humbly, "I'm gonna go now, and I'll grab her lab work on the way back…See if I can't get somewhere with it." He smiled as he left.

Mark hadn't always realized how great of a friend Derek truly was. He really appreciated that. And he knew that he often took their friendship for granted, but he was grateful that even through all they've been through, they've kept their relationship alive. No matter what Mark did Derek always found a way to forgive him. And vice versa.

Mark sat watching over Lexie, listening to the steady beeping of the machines. Her eyelids remained closed, and her mouth was partially open from the tube. Her lips were so dry and dehydrated that they were cracked and a white color instead of a healthy pink. Mark wet a washcloth with some cold water and dribbled it over her lips, slowly moisturizing the flaky skin with the cool liquid, all the while stoking the side of her face, feeling the stitched and coagulated cuts on her face.

"I love you too…So much. And I'm a fool for not seeing that you were miserable over this. I wish that I could take back everything I've ever done. I never meant to hurt you. And I'm gonna change. Again. I've been doing a lot of that lately, but I really mean it this time. I'm gonna be everything you ever wanted. I'm gonna prove it to you, somehow. But all you have to do is…You just have to survive, okay? Can you do that for me…for everyone? Can you just hold on? Because I don't think I can go on…In life, I can't keep living on this planet if you're not here with me. You and me, Lex. We're meant to be. I always knew it…I knew we were supposed to end up together. So don't die on me now. We're going to be happy….Maybe for once in our life we can just finally be happy again."


	7. Chapter 7: Page Shepherd

Chapter 8: Page Shepherd

Derek found a nice quiet and completely empty corner in the hallway right next to a vending machine to make his call. He slipped a dollar into the machine and clicked a button to choose a chewy granola bar. As the machine slowly dropped purchase, Derek pulled Mark's cell phone out of his pants pockets and found Julia's number under his contact list. _**This was going to be awkward. **_But it had to be done. Derek clicked the connect button and picked his granola bar out of the drop-box as the line rang. It wasn't a breakfast of champions but at least it'd keep him satisfied for a while.

The phone rang about twice before the frantic voice of Julia answered with a husterical sounding, "Oh my God, Mark! Where have you been! I have been calling and calling. I thought you were DEAD. I was just putting on my coat to come to the hospital because I didn't know what else to do!"

"I…I'm sorry but actually this is Derek Shepherd…Mark's good friend." Derek cut in.

"Oh, oh my…Oh my God, is he? Is he dead?" She yelped.

"No...No nothing like that." Derek answered.

"Well then what is it? He rushed out of the apartment while I was in the bathroom and just disappeared on me! He wouldn't answer any of my damn calls. He didn't even bother to say anything before he left or leave a note, he just fricking left! I have been waiting up all night like a mad person not knowing what to do. And Callie didn't know where he was either. I was just about to report it to the police as a missing person! Is he alright? Is he hurt?"

"It's…It's complicated. He's not so much hurt I guess. It's just that a…A dear friend is…hurt. He's here with me at the hospital. We were just trying our best to save the patient, he didn't really have the time to call you and now he…He's torn up real bad about it. He isn't ready for you right now. I hate to say that but he's very emotional and so I think it's best that you just wait it out." Derek tried to answer calmly and as collected as he could, also purposely avoiding to mention patient's identity.

"Wa wa whoa." She interrupted, "Just wait! I have been waiting all NIGHT. I can't just sit here and do nothing."

"I know it's hard. I do. It's the best thing though. It's what Mark wants right now, it is what he needs right now. He needs this time right now to just be alone, okay? So I think you should just stay away for now,"

"I'm sorry I'm just really freaking out. I mean, why won't he at least talk to me? Is this person really that good of a friend? I mean you sound okay at least. Who is this person…Do...Do I know them? I…Are you sure I can't come, just for a second?"

"I'm sorry, I understand your pain. Just listen. I have a strong feeling that if you show up you might not like what you see. Mark is at his worst; I don't want this to affect your relationship with him. He's already exploded on quite a few people. I don't want you getting involved it this. I will keep you posted. I'll call back when it's okay for you to come, just please….Don't come any sooner. I'm gonna hang up now, and I will call you back in a matter of time. Alright? I have to go now, so goodbye." And with that he clicked out of the call.

That was hard. Harder than he thought it'd be. He just hoped Julia would take his advice and stay away, cause if she walked in on Mark crying like a baby over another woman…..He didn't know what would happen. Maybe he didn't call either. Maybe it was a good thing she came, because he loved his friend and he loved his sister. And they both loved each other. So didn't it make sense for them to end up together?

It was now nearly 7 am. The sun was just rising in Seattle. Mark had finished off his coffee. It'd given him a temporary spark of energy from the caffeine but now he was starting to crash. His eyes felt so heavy, all he wanted to do was close them. But he couldn't. He wouldn't let himself. He kept rubbing at them as if he could rub the sleepiness right out, but all it was doing was making his eyes even more sore and itchy. Mark was rubbing his eyes, lightly sobbing when a nurse came in to check on Lexie. Mark tried to toughen up and straighten out as the woman walked in, but she wasn't judging him for showing his emotion. She informed that everything was coming up normal and that she was still stable, which was a very good thing. She was so strong. She might seem weak to others because she gets overly emotional, she cries a lot and she has her quirky nervous habits, but she was a fighter. Nothing was failing which meant that all of her vital were good. The nurse had put her stethoscope back around her neck and was about to leave after offering Mark a smile when he called out to her, "Excuse me, I really hate to ask this of you but…Do you think you could get me another coffee? I…I promised her that I wouldn't leave her side until she woke up and that's a promise that I really don't want to break," He said, obviously extremely upset. There were large purplish bags under his eyes that showed his exhaustion. His face looked sunken in and he was pale. This was really eating him up inside. He just had an overall, general haggard appearance to him. The nurse could tell how much pain he was in, and it was just so heartfelt that she couldn't turn him down.

"Of course," She answered, flipping the chart book closed and exiting.

Mark watched her leave and then restored his attention to Lexie. The waiting was agony. Mark just needed some kind of sign. Some kind of sign that she was going to be alright. Something to give him hope. Because right now he felt very helpless. His emotions were overpowering and getting the best of him. Mark laid his head down on Lexie's lap and dozed off for about fifteen minutes when he heard a soft voice say quietly into his ear, "Sorry it took so long. I brought you that coffee you wanted though."

It was the nice mid-fifty year old nurse with the caring eyes and gentle smile. What was her name again? Jan…Or Jane? No, it was Jan. Short for Janis. Mark remembered now. He'd read her name on the chart.

"Thanks so much," Mark thanked as he was handed the to-go cup. He held it close to his mouth, feeling the warm steam spewing from the hole in the lid moisten his lips. He took one large drink, the warm goodness filling his whole body. After that he set it down on the table beside Lexie and picked up her hand again, laying his head back in her lap. The nurse seemed to be fiddling with something behind Mark but he paid no attention. He just tried to focus on the memories he and Lexie shared. The good and bad, but they were still memories at least. He pondered their future, if there would be one or not. In the middle of his thoughts something weird happened. Mark felt it. It was almost like a tremor through her body. Did she? Yes! She breathed! All on her own! Without the stupid machines! It was a quick gasp and then a deep, labored exhale. Mark propped his head back up to see Lexie's chest moving rapidly and her mouth opened a little wider. The heart rate on the monitor seemed to quicken so that the beeping was close together. And then she looked like she was struggling. Gagging from the intubation as she tried to fight it. Her eyelids were fluttering and then a soft murmur escaped from her mouth. It sounded like a single cough. And with that her eyes slowly, ever so slowly started to part. Mark whirled around in his seat and turned to the nurse who was behind him still, writing in her chart book.

"Page Shepherd!" Was all he said to her.


	8. Chapter 8: She's Awake

Chapter 8: She's awake

Mark watched her open her eyes and wince a little from the pain she was in. Thank God. She was awake. She was really awake. He couldn't help himself. He was ecstatic. He leaned over her and hugged her lightly, so he wouldn't hurt her. She looked confused and made a surprised face as he did so.

"Lexie! Lexie?" Mark exclaimed.

"Ma…Muh…ark?" She tried to talk but the tube down her throat wouldn't allow her. She smiled a bit before her eyes glazed over again.

"Wait! Stay awake! Derek's coming. You're going to be fine," Mark squealed happily, grabbing her shoulders to jolt her back awake. "He's on his way now. "

Derek Shepherd's pager went off as he was studying her labs. He unclipped it from his belt to check the message. It was just an emergency page to…Oh god Lexie's room. He hoped that this was good and not bad news. He sprinted back up the stairs as quickly as his legs would take him. By the time he reached the door he was completely out of breath. He stood in the doorway, worried sick and panting heavily as he breathlessly weased, "What is it?"

Mark turned around. Derek was relieved to see a positive look on his face, even though there tears in his eyes. "She's awake!" Mark informed, letting out a chortle.

Derek entered, not sure just how good this news was or if it was as good as Mark thought. Any number of things could go wrong from here. This was just the beginning, the very beginning of her healing process. Because waking up was the easy part. Now comes the even harder part. Living with the immense pain, working towards recovery, having more and more treatment that seems to be hurting more before it helps. That's the hardest part.

Derek first observed her. He noted that she looked awfully confused, she was gagging from the intubation, and her eyes were moving back and forth rapidly. She tried to move her hands but it looked like it gave her a lot of pain, probably from the shattered elbow and popped shoulder. Derek moved to the left side of the bed, which was on her right side. He caringly put his hand on her wrist. She flinched a little but eased her tensed body as Derek said, "Lexie, it's me Derek. Welcome back. We were afraid we'd never get to see you again. I'm just going to examine alright, don't be alarmed."

Derek gently lifted up her eyelid, one at a time, and shone his flashlight to see how she was functioning. He was extremely alarmed when she made barely a reaction to the bright light, other than squinting a tiny bit, but it seemed very late to be a reaction to the light. Most people immediately blink or move their pupils, but she didn't. That immediately struck him as strange but it could just be that she needed time to adjust. But from the dark colored bags under her eyes Derek was a little bit worried. His face must've said it all because Mark asked, "What…What's wrong?"

Derek was startled and said, "Nothing…Nothing that I know of yet. Let's call Bailey, Hunt and Torres back to complete their assessments. Let's get that tube out of her mouth. It's causing her a lot of discomfort and maybe she'll talk to us once it's out. So we can see how her memory is."

Mark, Derek and the nurse Jan worked swiftly and got the tube out, freeing Lexie from the extremely awkward and unnatural feeling of a tube being shoved down your throat. Her chest heaved and then she feel back on the pillow as it was finally all the way out. She struggled to catch her breath at first but then her respiratory system seemed to take a hold better, and her breath sounds were more regular and less rapid. The monitor had been beeping more frequently which meant her heart rate had been faster than normal.

"She's not tachycardic is she?" Mark asked with concern.

"No I don't think so. Her heart rate is lowering. It was just from the tube being taken out….Let's start by testing her memory." Derek said.

"She said my name when she woke up. I swear. It was kind of hard to make because the tube was keeping her from talking. It was more like a muh then an ark but I think she was trying to say Mark. Lexie…Lexie it's me Mark. I'm right here. Right here next to you. Talk to me. Do you remember? I know you do. You smiled at my voice and you said my name…Well sorta. But it was enough to convince me." Mark interrogated her, still holding her hand like it was a life-preserver.

"Uh, let's start with something a little easier. Do you know where you are Lexie?" Derek asked waiting patiently for a response. Just then Bailey walked in. She was about to ask that one question that probably everyone wanted to know by now, "Is she awake?" but once she saw for herself she just smiled instead.

"Nuh…No," Lexie answered, still glancing all around the room with crazy eyes, "Ha…Hospit..al?" She said the word like it was a question.

"That's right Little Grey, Seattle Grace Mercy West. You work here too, you remember that?" He followed up with another question.

"Mhm," She nodded her head. She winced as Derek drew blood from her arm and acted like she didn't know what was going on…And like she was afraid and skittish. That scared Shepherd.

Bailey could see the obvious tension in the room. She stopped what she was doing and called out to Lexie, "Hey…Lexie, follow my voice okay. Can you see where I am?"

"Bailey," She answered clearly without any stammering, as her eyes moved towards her general vicinity but made no eye contact.

"That's right. It's me Lexie. That's good." Bailey said with joy, as she flipped up the bottom of the blanket to reveal Lexie's bare feet. "Now can you move your toes and fingers for us?"

Everyone waited in anticipation when suddenly Lexie's toeswriggled and she did a little wave with her fingers.

"Alright good, the brain has control over the muscles still. Excellent sign." Bailey said to herself.

Derek whom was still on Lexie's right side wasn't so sure that it was excellent though. "Derek?" Lexie called out, not looking at him but gazing straight forward.

"I'm right here Lex." Derek informed tapping her leg. "I'm going to help you through this. You just tell me whatever it is you need and what you are feeling. I'm going to make you better,"

"Derek…I can't see." She answered straightforwardly.

"Can't see what?" Mark asked in confusion moving closer to Lexie.

"Psh Anything," Lexie spoke with a hint of hysteria as she gave a strange chuckle, but then went back to normal, "I…I'm blind….I can't see a thing. Everything's just dark."

Everyone went silent which made Lexie start to cry, "Its bad isn't it?" She asked through her tears. Mark kissed her hand again and rolled his eyes up to keep the tears back.

"Lexie tell me something, how much of last night do you remember?" He inquired while rapidly working.

She moaned and clenched her fist around Mark's from a sudden pain and then let an exhale escape, "I…Uh…I rem…member …Luh…leaving the hop...spital af…fer the surgery. My…Da…Dad ca…called. He suh…suh sounded weird…over the phone. So I ru…rushed to his hou..se and he jumped at me…I was ssssso startled that I duh..didn't suh…see the buh, buh…bottle coming at my face. Then I must've passed out…When I woke I her…heard my phone…It was Ma…Mark, that…That's basically it," She said slurring her speech and stammering terribly.

"Wha…Why is she talking like that? She...She sounds like she's having trouble breathing. Is something wrong with her? Is it the brain?" Mark asked with worry.

"Bailey where are Hunt and Torres?" Derek asked, avoiding Mark's questions.

"They're on their way, that's all I know,"

"SHEPHERD!" Mark exclaimed, standing from his seat angrily.

Both Bailey and Derek were startled. Lexie was the most startled since she couldn't see what was going on. She jumped a little and gave a gasp as Mark screamed. Derek stared at his troubled friend. He was quiet though; he still didn't respond. Bailey stared at the ground, trying to keep her emotions in check. She was tired of the constant destruction of their surgeons. It seemed like every other day someone was getting hurt or dying. Mark kept his gaze on Derek, his lip trembling and his eyes squinting from the pain he was feeling. "What're you thinking, Derek?" He said softly. "Please I need to know. Is this just temporary? From the trauma right? It's just from the head injury! This happens a lot right? And…Plus she got alcohol in her eyes from the bottle and all. It could just be that right?"

"It's possible," Was all that Derek offered back, not sounding too promising.

"Hunt and Torres are going to reevaluate and then we'll decide our course of treatment….We can't make any promises though Mark…You know that." Bailey cut in.

"Well she is a SURGEON she NEEDS her sight! You can't operate on something that you can't see Dr. Bailey!" Mark hollered.

Lexie started to break down again. She wasn't in any state for all of this yelling and bickering. She needed to stay calm so that her BP didn't skyrocket. She started crying again, this time not just tearing up but actually crying.

"Oh...Oh," Bailey said lurching forward, "Lexie Grey you listen to me. I know you are scared, but you have to stay calm. You are not dying. And right now, we are all here to take care of you. You are our top priority. And I don't usually play favoritism over patients but I am with you because we all care very much about you Sweetheart. We are going to fight as hard as we can and we're going to get you your life back. It may take a while and the recovery may be hectic...But you're going to be fine. I promise you that Lexie Grey. I promise."

Lexie was still sobbing but she nodded her head and gave a hint of a smile. As Bailey comforted Lexie Derek grabbed Mark and pulled him aside whispering to him so that he wouldn't upset Lexie any further, "Listen her sight is the least of our worries right now. There could be any number of things wrong with her right now. She could have a bleeder, a concussion, she runs the risk for infection, her elbow is still shattered which means at least one more surgery if not more….She's in for a long painful recovery and right now, you worrying her like this is the last thing you do. As soon as Hunt and Torres get back here we're rushing her down to get more tests and rule out everythingpossible but I can't promise you that everything _**will **_be ruled out is the thing. So you need to prepare yourself is all I'm saying." Derek looked at him with a straight unamused face. "We all need to be prepared,"

Mark stood in utter silence with his mouth open wide for a moment but after he accepted the facts he agreed. He gave an awkward chuckle after and made a foolish remark to the entire ordeal, "Strange coincidence…My current girlfriend being an eye surgeon and my ex-girlfriend whom I still have feelings for goes blind,"

"Don't take this out on yourself okay? You had nothing to do with her getting hurt. That was Thatcher's fault. If anything you played the key role in her surviving. You saved her, and so go…Go tell her all of those things you're feeling. Alright?" Derek coaxed.

"Alright," Mark responded. Derek wrapped him in a bear hug before Mark could turn away.

"I just want you to know that I'm never going to stop fighting. I don't care if she has a 100 or 2% chance of survival. I will do whatever it takes. Don't you worry…I'm gonna save her."

"Thank you," Mark cried into his shoulder.

"But to be sure…Tell her. Tell her everything…Don't hold back anymore. This is your one wake-up call. You might not ever get another chance to make it clear to her that you will always have feelings for her. And even if you can't make them work…At least she'll always know the truth."

End of Chapter 8 (please leave your thoughts! I'd love to hear just what you think and know what you'd like to happen)


	9. Chapter 9: No matter what Little Grey

Chapter 9: I am here for you, no matter what Little Grey.

Mark went back to Lexie's bedside, sat back down in his seat and smiled at her and pushed his hand through her hair. She gave a half grin but she looked tired…And so weak. And her skin was still a waxy grey instead of her usually rosy pink. She looked like someone who was going to die. Mark had seen enough of terminal patient's to know what that looked like. The bags under her eyes were even worse than his.

Mark tried to find the words to say. He had so many firing through his mind that he couldn't chose the right ones but he made the weakest decision and said as his voice cracked from the strain it took for him just the simple word, "Hey,"

"Hi," She said back, crying and fighting her tears as she closed her eyes.

They both cried together. For a few seconds they didn't say anything; they just held hands and let their emotions flow. Then Mark pulled himself together, sniffled, and blinked his eyes repeatedly to shake out the collection of tears that was blurring his vision. "I was so scared."

"Me too," Lexe said, looking at him even though she technically couldn't see him. She could tell where he was though from his voice. The voice she loved so much. The voice that made her heart melt inside of her chest. The voice that made her knees weak and wobbly. It made everything else in her mind float away and the only thing that was left behind was thoughts of Mark Sloan. All she needed right now was him. Him to be there. Him to talk her through this. That was all she needed to be convinced that she was going to be alright. They were quiet for a while. Mark continued to squeeze her hand tight. He wanted to say the words. He wished he'd just stop being a coward. Just say it, Mark. He told himself. But he was scared. What if it changed things between them? Right now he wanted to support her without the drama. If he told her could it complicate things? Why was he even thinking about this? None of that mattered. Just tell her. But as Mark was pondering the deep corners of his mind Lexie snuck up on him.

"Mark." She said his name.

He snapped out of his dreamlike state of consciousness and responded with a reflexive, "What?"

"I love you," She said so abruptly that the words almost shocked her. She gasped a little and then bit her lips and closed her eyes tight. Mark was speechless for a moment. She'd literally taken the words out of his mouth. Those three little words with such a big meaning behind them.

"I love you too," Mark answered leaning forward closer to her and saying his words slowly to add feeling.

"You don't have to… You don't… have…. to say it just because I…said it." Lexie shook her head. "I'm sorry I just…I had to tell you."

"No, I do. I love you." Mark cut in half way through her sentence, "I have always loved you. And I will always love you. I thought I was gonna lose you Lexie. I can't bear that thought."

"No," She then proceeded to intrude his sentence as she shook her head no. "I'm not…I' not going anywhere…Yet." She smiled at him. Mark put one hand on her neck and the other on the side of her face lovingly. Lexie closed her eyes and put her hand over his. "Good, that's good," mark said quietly, smiling back at her.

"I had all the words Lexie. I had it all when you were asleep and now it just all flew over my head. I sat by your side the whole time though. I didn't move from this seat. And I'm not gonna go anywhere until you're out of this hospital bed. I am here for you no matter what Little Grey. You hear me?"

And with that they were back to tearing up. Mark lunged forward and hugged her again. Lexie rested her head on his shoulder, letting her tears stain his shirt.

Bailey and Derek stood in the background, trying desperately to keep calm and stay normal. They stood still and didn't move but Bailey could barely contain herself. She tried so hard not to cry but she couldn't resist. It was all just too heartfelt, too emotional. She couldn't anymore. She let herself cry, trying not to blubber at least but the hot wet tears still ran down her cheeks. She looked up at the ceiling and bounced on her toes to keep in check. Even Derek was having a hard time staying blank in his facial expressions. His lip quivered as he attempted to push away the tears that were coming up so he looked away. His best friend…And his littler half-sister were in so much pain. It hurt him to listen to this. All those pent up emotions finally coming out between them. It was too much for anyone to endure. And right now at that moment he realized that Lexie Grey's life was practically in his hands... If she had further issues than what was apparent to the naked eye, it would be up to him to save her. It was up to him….He was in for a very long day. He was in for a very long week.

(Pretty please leave all of your comments. I'm a little stuck on a few ideas for the next chapters and maybe if you leave your thoughts I'd be able to sort them out)

I'm debating what I should do about Jackson. I don't really want to add him much but I probably should put him in a little. I'm not sure what should happen with Mer and Lex but I'm definitely gonna put a ton of Grey Sister scenes in and as for thatcher, I know for sure he's getting what's coming for him. I don't have everything planned out for him but I think that he's definitely gonna get some hard core cold shoulder and angst from Lexie. I believe you will all be extremely satisfied by the Slexie scenes that are in the next chapters. (But I'm not saying that they're going to get back together right away.) And I think there will be some more heartfelt moments with Derek and Bailey and Callie and maybe even the Chief. I hope to include all the characters to show just how upset they will be over their little grey being hurt.


	10. Chapter 10: You haven't heard?

Chapter 10: You haven't heard?

Hunt walked steadily at a quick pace trying as hard as he could to keep his face blank and to look normal. He was Chief of this hospital, he couldn't let his emotions get in the way and he couldn't let the people around him see that he was in a hurry. If they knew that he was acting strange they wouldn't attack him for information. Right now all he was focused on was getting back to Lexie's room trouble-free. He'd received a vague page from Shepherd telling him to report to the patient's room STAT. He wasn't sure what to make of the news…it could be good or bad. It was strange but he was actually worried. This patient wasn't just anyone. She was the baby sister of Meredith and Derek, she was in one of those complicated and twisted love stories with Mark Sloan, she was a friend to everyone in the hospital really. He couldn't let anyone down. The pressure was on with this case. If Lexie didn't survive the hospital would be in turmoil. There was too much death in this hospital. Death and injury and emotional distress. It seemed like every other day they were coming close to losing another member of their team…And with Teddy's husband dying so recently this would just toss everyone over the edge into insanity. Hunt was tangled up in his own thoughts with the facial expression of a madman as he deeply thought of the circumstances while walking closer and closer to Lexie's room. He tried to tune everything out to keep from getting distracted but he couldn't avoid it when his name was being called from across the room.

"Chief Hunt! Hey, Ch…Chief!" He reluctantly turned around on his heels to come face to face with Richard Webber. "If you're not too busy right now do you think you could help me out? I got a patient who won't sign his paperwork and so I can't discharge him. He had a routine appendectomy almost four days ago and we can't keep him here anymore. He hasn't had any post-op complications. He could've left two days ago but he just won't budge. He's afraid he's going to get an infection and die if he goes home alone. I swear he's acting like what he needs is a psych eval."

"Uh…I'm…I'm really sorry I'm in a big hurry right now…I got Lexie Grey upstairs. I just got a page from Shepherd saying it was an emergency. I should really get back up there to check in on her," He replied pointing towards the staircase as he tried to slip away quickly and easily without Webber putting up a fight.

"Wait…Wha…Lexie Grey? What do you mean she's upstairs? You working a case with her or?" He asked in confusion while grabbing Hunt's arm to keep him from scurrying away.

"You…You haven't heard yet?" Hunt asked with shaking his head back and forth and narrowing his eyes in confusion as well.

"Haven't heard? Um no….I haven't heard anything lately…I've been down here all by myself all night. I've been fighting this patient for hours; I haven't really been socializing much." He said with emphasis on the part about socializing.

"Well I figured you'd at least heard already….Its buzzing all over the hospital. Lexie Grey was…She was…assaulted…battered….I mean she was barely hanging….She was comatose the last time I saw her. She was attacked…By her own father." He informed awkwardly.

Richard's face dropped. "You…You're kidding me right? Thatcher? Thatcher did it? My God. Is...Is she alright? Do...Do you thinking she's going to make it? A coma? What the hell happened?"

Hunt's face didn't look to promising to Webber. "She...She's alive. That's all I can say as of now. But I'll tell you something. I've seen people being blown to pieces and tortured and shot…I've seen it all….But it was always from their enemies, from the people fighting against them, from the other side. I've never seen with my own eyes a person being hurt so bad to the point where they almost died because of their own father. I've heard it before, I hear stories on the news but I've never been so close to it. He got so drunk that he picked up a glass bottle and smashed it into her face and then kicked her while she was down on the floor, bleeding and nearly unconscious. He kicked her so hard, so many times that she got internal bleeding. We had to surgically correct it. Shepherd is going to be dealing with her brain functions, making sure she's properly healing and monitoring her to make sure she doesn't get any permanent damage. Torres is handling the other injuries she sustained…A broken elbow and a displaced shoulder I think it was." Hunt spoke firmly.

"that's…That's awful. I'm really speechless. I never thought Thatcher capable of such."

Hunt gave a single nod and then turned to leave after putting his hands into his lab coat pockets.

"Oh wait! I'll come with you." Richard called after him yet again. "I want to…I need to see her. In case you know…This is the last time. I feel horrible. I'm almost responsible for the monster Thatcher Grey became. He first took up drinking during him and Ellis' marital problems which were as you known…Due to our affair."

"Of course. Follow me," Hunt said and motioned Webber to walk with him.

"How's Meredith doing with all of this? And Mark…Oh God, how is Mark? " Webber asked as they moved.

"Well as for Meredith I know that she went home a little while ago. Derek drove her because she was a wreck and she needed to get some rest, plus they had Zola with them at the time so they wanted to get her home so she could sleep too. She was really upset about it. I know it's her sister and all but I never really realized that they were that close. She was pretty hysterical. She almost jumped at a cop from what I heard. And for Mark…Well….God help him, if she dies… He…He won't ever be the same I don't think. He hasn't left her side since they brought her in. And he sat in the gallery during her surgery. He was the one you know that saved her…Basically he saved her life. He rushed over and found her after Thatcher had beaten her. He had to go through that. It must've been tough. I've been through a lot but I could never imagine having to go through what he has tonight…And that's saying something right there."

(Sorry I know this chapter wasn't al too action or too great but I really wanted to update for you all and I didn't have enough time today to type out the rest, plus I found it a good place to end the chapter because if I didn't end it here I'd probably have a 6 page chapter which isn't all too bad I guess. I promise I'll try and get some better more interesting stuff to you all real soon! All the cool will be coming up cos now I've sort of ended the introductory stuff and I can get right into all the fun medical and slexie stuff.)


	11. Chapter 11: Just for Safety

Chapter 11:

When Hunt and Webber arrived Torres, Shepherd, Sloan, Bailey and a nurse were all in the room already.

"How is she? I just heard?" Webber whispered into Shepherd's ear, trying not to cause a huge commotion.

Derek just made a humph noise and gave a little shake of his head, not really answering but gesturing in a way that was enough to tell Richard that it wasn't too good.

Torres was adjusting Lexie's arm and examining the damage in the process. She had a real studious look upon her face. She was focused and she was dedicated. Of course, it was her best friend's soul mate as they'd say. Mark was still in a bawling stage. He'd moved from his seat so Torres could get to the injured arm and was now on the other side of the bed, sitting in the corner staring at Callie as she did her job. His face was slumped into a depressed look and he was covering his mouth with a balled first.

"Do you have a plan?" Webber asked Shepherd.

"I've got nothing. Absolutely nothing. I'm so far behind. I haven't even taken her for scans yet. I don't know what I was thinking…I wasn't. I can't think straight because I'm so stressed out and exhausted. I could be risking her permanent brain damage Richard. My own sister because I didn't work fast enough." He whispered angrily. Richard could see the guilt in his face as Shepherd turned his view from Lexie and looked Webber straight in the eyes. His face was full of disdain for himself. He was taking this on himself too much.

"Chief Hunt would you mind checking the patient please?" Derek suddenly yelled.

Hunt nodded and walked all the way into the room towards the bed at an ambling pace. He took his hands out of his pockets when he reached the bed to examine Lexie. Bailey stepped forward to help him remove the drapery from her body. He then flipped up her gown to observe the surgical wounds. He moved his hands over her abdomen feeling the incision line. He could feel a little bit of swelling, it seemed to be a bit inflamed but that was normal. What worried him was that there was some blood in the bandages. That could mean that there were post-surgical complications.

"A little swollen and pink, but that's as expected. There's some bleeding I think we should monitor that. Let's rebandage so we can tell if the bleeding continues." Hunt informed affirmatively.

"Alright, Torres you're up." Derek called out.

"The arm is still very fragile. Try not to move it at all or else it could dislocate the shoulder again. I'd like to get her elbow fixed but I don't think it'll be a problem if we wait so that she can get her strength back." Callie reported as she set a caring hand on Lexie's leg. She then moved to check the legs and her eyebrows lowered. "Bailey was…Was er foot this swollen when you last checked?"

Bailey stepped forward and took a look. "Not at all Dr. Torres."

"Dammit. It's an edema."

Lexie had been very quiet through all of this.

"How you feeling Lexie?" Derek asked.

"My…Head hur…hurts…A lot. And the room, it's like its spinning. I just feel really tired and sluggish…And I feel like…Like I'm gonna…Oh…Oh no…Ma…Mark…bucket." She covered her mouth and pointed at a pail on the side table. Mark quickly grabbed the pink, plastic pail and held it in front of her. She grabbed onto it and Mark held back her hair as she heaved into the bin. After she was done Mark moved it away. Lexie wiped her mouth and Mark handed her a small cup of water with a bendy straw. She sipped at it to get the rancid taste out of her mouth.

"We need to transport her now!" Derek said to the group of surgeons. Get her to the CT scanner and…We may even need an MRI. NOW! MOVE PEOPLE!" Derek clapped his hands to get people rolling.

Bailey , Torres and Hunt and Webber all disconnected Lexie from her machines and got the bed moving down towards the scanner. Derek stood with Mark.

"Lexie…It's me Richard Webber," Richard spoke as he put his hand on her shoulder so she could tell where he was, "Just stay with us alright. Try to stay awake. I know you're tired but try to fight through it. We're going to make you better alright?"

"Ok," She responded in a sleepy tone, her lips hanging open and her eyes half closed.

They moved the bed outside of the room and started down the hallway. Derek helped Mark walk. His emotions were still getting the best of him. His whole body was trembling. He held his hands up to his mouth and Derek could see how bad he was shaking. He was moving slowly and at one point he stopped dead in his tracks. Everyone watched them with curiosity. Most people knew them. They were attending. They were the highest power in the hospital. Mark Sloan had a different reputation around the people though. And to see him in this state was shocking to most people.

"Mark," Derek put his hand on his back. "It's ok,"

"No…No it's not," Mark cried, "Don't…Don't let her die Derek."

Derek shook his head, "I won't. I swear I won't. I'm gonna do EVERYTHING I can. EVERYTHING. And after I do everything I'll do even more. I'll do whatever it takes. She's gonna be alright. I hope she will at least. We all hope. And I really think she will though. She's got everybody's prayers…" But before Derek finish his speech to his panic-stricken friend Yang came up behind them. She grabbed a hold of Derek's wrist and said, "Hey Derek, how is she doing? I'm free to help if you need it," She said with concern and care.

"Yeah we could use you. She's getting scanned right now. You can come down if you'd like." Derek informed.

"Of course. Whatever I can do to help."

So the three walked together all the way to the scanner. Bailey, Torres, Hunt and Webber had already gotten Lexie into the device.

"Oh Shepherd!" Bailey called as she spotted him and hand-motioned him to come into the booth.

"Callie, can you come stay with Mark?" Derek called.

"Of course," She replied and walked out to sit with him.

"The results are coming up now," Bailey pointed at the screen.

Bailey handed him the x-rays right away. Yang flipped on the light board and Derek put them up to it.

He examined them for only a few seconds and then he ripped them off and threw them on the floor.

"What's wrong?" Yang asked.

"Shit," Derek muttered under his breath…."Shit," He repeated. Then his volume escalated, "SHIT!" and then Derek pushed all the stuff off the desk. It clattered to the floor making a loud ruckus, alarming everyone.

"I am an idiot. AN IDIOT," He continued yelling.

"Shepherd please," Bailey tried to calm him. He was out of breath by now and his face was beat red.

"It's a cerebral contusion. I should've known. I should have known," Derek kicked the leg of the desk now. "Book an OR now! I need to get in there and relieve the intracranial pressure before it leads to brain herniation."

Bailey picked up the phone and started dialing. Richard and Hunt moved to pull Lexie out of the machine and get her onto a stretcher.

Derek and Yang walked out as well.

"Derek what the hell's happening?" Mark stood up from where he and Torres were sitting on the floor.

"I…It's uh….She has a contusion. I'm gonna fix it right now. We're going into surgery right now."

Lexie was put on the stretcher. Her body was limp and she was only half-conscious. She opened her eyes a little though and called out, "Mark,"

Mark rushed to her side and put his hand on her forehead. She was burning up and there was a warm film of sweat clinging to her skin. "Yes. What is it Little Grey?"

"Kiss me,"

"What?"

"One last kiss,"

"No...You're not dying. There's no last ok? You're going to make it. Shepherd's gonna fix your brain okay? Don't give up," He kissed her hand as he cried.

"I know…Just for safety," She smiled. Her face was so pale and her lips were so sickly that they had a blue undertone to them. Her eyes wandered in every direction because she still couldn't see.

"Right. Just in case," He said, and so he leaned in over the stretcher and kissed her. He held her smooth cheek and kissed her. Her lips were so dry and she was too weak to give much of a kiss back so he pulled away. She smiled, looking drowsy as her eyes slowly opened and closed.

"Thank you," She whispered under her breath.

"Don't mention it," Mark smiled and laughed through his tears.

Bailey got off the phone and Derek rushed over to her. They lightly conversed about their plans for the surgery, Yang, Torres and Hunt all joining in.

"I might as well fix the arm while I'm in there," Torres announced.

Mark knelt down beside Lexie, holding her hand.

"I'll be waiting for you Lexie. I'll be right outside the OR when you come out of your surgery. So you'd better not die on me,"

She gave a grin as a response but she could barely stay awake. Mark's voice seemed so far away even though he was right next to her. And her head. God her head hurt so badly. It was like a migraine times ten. Her ears were ringing and it felt like someone was squeezing her head together. Suddenly Lexie's eyes widened. Mark lifted his head and watched her carefully. She suddenly looked confused. She turned her head to the side and then said, "Where…I…can't see anything. Who turned off the lights?"

"Lexie?" Mark tried to calm her.

"Huh...Reee…Yaaa," She made gibberish sounds as she looked at Mark. Her eyes were as wide as a horse's. And she was breathing so heavily that Mark could see the rapid rising and falling of her chest. She was starting to hyperventilate when suddenly she gave a weird twitch and then her eyes rolled back and she was shaking. No she as convulsing. Her arms and legs and neck. Everywhere. She was having a seizure. Mark tried to hold her body down. She was making weird gasping noises with each convulsion.

"Shepherd! She's seizing," Mark screamed turning around to call for help from the surgeons having a chit-chat circle.

As they all saw what was going on all hell broke leash. Everyone ran to the stretcher yelling, screaming, bickering and trying to all work at the same time.

Suddenly Lexie lurched forward and then fell back. Her eyes closed and her mouth hung open.

"Oh god she's crashing!" Callie screamed as she pushed Mark away to get to her.

"Get a crash cart here now!" Bailey exclaimed a command into the air. A nearby nurse answered to her request thankfully.

"Oh god the wound is opening. She's started to bleed. I need gauze to stop it." Hunt then informed. The crash cart was brought and ready. Derek brought it closer. Hunt grabbed the paddles. They rolled her onto her side, put the board down and charged the defibrillator.

"Hands off," Derek called out. Everyone took a step back and kept their hands up. Hunt put the paddles onto her and released the charge. The shock lifted Lexie's small body up entirely.

"I've got a heartbeat," He announced. That was good, it only took one shock, that meant wasn' too weak. She could've just crashed from the seizure.

Everyone gave a laugh of hysteria from happiness that she was stabile again. Mark stood behind them all, staring madly as he put his hands on the top of his head.

"Let's move now. OR 4, go!" Derek screeched above the noise level. Callie grabbed Mark, who was in a complete daze and literally pulled him with her to get him to move. Everyone else grabbed onto the stretcher and pushed her towards their destination. IT was only a matter of time now. They had to work fast if they wanted to keep this girl alive.


	12. Chapter 12: I'm On My Way

Chapter 12: I'm on my way

Lexie wavered in and out of consciousness as she was pushed to the OR. Mark watched her struggle to stay alive yet alone to stay awake. This was all too unreal. As Webber helped a thought suddenly struck him. He stopped running with them and just stopped in the middle of the hall. Shepherd yelled his name but Webber didn't respond. He had to do something before he went into this surgery. Suddenly he turned around and run in the other direction. Shepherd and everyone else were too busy to worry so they kept going.

"Mar…Ma…Ruck…Maruck." Lexie kept trying to say his name but the word just wouldn't form. Callie moved the oxygen mask form her mouth knowing that she wanted to say something, or do something. This could be her last chance to do it. Her eyes suddenly opened slowly and she looked over at Mark who was helping to push the stretcher. She reached her hand out. He grabbed it immediately.

"Mark, go to the gallery. You can watch but you can't help." Derek said as they came to the doors. The rest of the surgeons kept going and wheeled her into the operating room, prepping for the surgery.

"Please just let me in. Just so I can hold her hand. I don't want to be alone right now. And I don't want her to be scared. I just want to be there for her…To comfort her." Mark cried anxiously.

"I know you do and I'm sorry but we can't let you in. You're too emotionally attached…You're not fit to be in there," Derek informed, "You can watch her from upstairs. I promise it'll be alright."

Mark hated that he had to just sit and watch them cut into her again but he was too exhausted to put up a fight. He agreed and walked off to get into the gallery.

Lexie was on the table now. The other surgeons were prepping and scrubbing while the nurses dressed the bedding and got out the instruments. The anesthesia was about to be administered when Lexie suddenly reached over and grabbed Yang's arm and said, "Cristina,"  
"Wait!" Yang called and bent down to Lexie's view point.

Lexie gulped hard and then pushed through her tears, trying to get out what she needed to say, "Please….Tell…Meredith…That I love her…And that she…Was a good….Sister,"

Yang put her hand over Lexie's and squeezed in a comforting way, "Tell her yourself when you wake up…." Yang said and smiled, even though the waterworks were coming back, "Because we're gonna make you better. You're going to survive…I promise. I won't let anything happen to you."

Lexie nodded.

All the surgeons then rushed in, excluding Webber who had simultaneously disappeared. "Let's get to work," Derek shouted as he entered.

The anesthesiologist administered the drug and Lexie would soon be unconscious.

"You ready?" Derek said to Lexie before she slipped away.

"As ready as I'll ever be," She replied before she went under.

"Alright people…It's a beautiful day to save lives," Derek said in confidence. With that all the surgeons flocked towards the patient and got to work. Torres immediately began fixing the arm while Shepherd and Yang performed the craniotomy.

Suddenly the machines started beeping furiously. All heads turned towards the screens. "She's in V-tach," Yang called out first.

"What the hell did you do?" Torres asked.

"Shit…It's a bleeder." Derek said pulling his tool out. "Suction Bokey!" He called to the scrub nurse.

The blood pooled into a beaker. And then as Shepherd got it under control her vitals came down and she was stable again. Everyone sighed with relief.

Shepherd looked up to see how Mark was doing. He was up at the glass staring down. His body shaking with fear and his eyes wild. He looked like he'd aged ten years within one day. His eyes looked sparkly with tears. This was awful for him. He remembered Mark saying that he didn't want to be alone right now. That wasn't like Mark. It wasn't something Mark would admit unless he really really meant it. Derek felt terrible. He'd probably just scared him half to death with the bleeder. He really needed someone up there with him.

Derek looked around the room. Everyone was busy at work, but the only person he could spare was a resident.

"Yang,"

"Yes Dr. Shepherd?" She asked, looking up from her work at him.

"Can you go sit with Mark?"

Yang looked up at the gallery and saw him. He did look horrible. She didn't want to do this but she did feel extremely bad for him. He was a wreck.

"Of course Dr. Shepherd. Shall I call Meredith while I'm at it? I think she'll want to be here."

"Yes. Good thinking." He complimented and watched as she left the room.

Yang pulled off her mask and threw it in the trash in the scrub room. As soon as she was in the hallway she pulled out her cellphone and dialed Meredith's number, holding it up to her ear as it rang and leaning back on the wall.

"Cristina!" She answered immediately in a rambunctious, inquiring voice, "How is she? Do you know? I'm just getting Zola ready now, I'm gonna drop her at the daycare and I'll be right up there. Please…Tell me something good.

Yang was quiet for a moment. Was there something good to tell? Was anything happening right now good? Sure her bleeding was under control and she was still alive but who could tell. Who could tell if she would make it anyways? She was in critical condition which meant that she could very well die today.

Her silence must've worried Meredith because she cried, "Cristina please, please is she dead? Don't tell me she's dead. Did she wake up?"

"Yes…She woke up." Cristina responded keeping her voice cool as the silent tears dripped down her face.

"Oh thank God!" Meredith screeched, "She's okay? She's alright?"

"Um well…She…She's in surgery again."

"What? What happened?"

"I don't have all the details of the before hand happenings. I showed up while she was getting her CT scan but Derek had determined that she had a brain contusion. As we were moving her she seized and went into D fib. We got her heart started again and rushed to surgery where she's at now. Me and Derek were doing the craniotomy when she got a bled. We stopped it and she's stable again but…I can't tell you how it'll turn up. She isn't looking so good. I don't mean to worry you but you should get down here. She wanted me to tell you," Cristina took in a deep breath and tried to keep herself calm as she repeated Lexie's words, "That you are a good sister and that she loves you,"

"Oh God," Meredith cried, "She can't die. She can't. Not before I get to say goodbye."

"I'm so sorry Meredith," Yang cried with her, "Derek's doing everything he can though. She might be alright. Let's hope for that,"

"I'm on my way," Meredith informed.

"Ok. See you soon," Yang said before hanging up.


	13. Chapter 13: Where to Turn

Chapter 13: Where to Turn

Richard Webber had known Thatcher Grey for a very long time. He had always respected and felt bad for the man. He was basically the reason that Thatcher Grey's life fell apart in the first place so he'd always felt guilty for him. He broke up Thatcher and Ellis' marriage which was the reason he left her and Meredith behind to find a new family. He was the basis of Meredith's hatred for her own father. He'd always carried around a heavy burden for what he'd done to the man. So when Richard had learned of Thatcher's drinking he'd wanted to help the man. He'd helped him get back on track and he then respected the man for doing that too. But now…Now there was nothing. Every single ounce of that respect was completely gone. All he felt was anger and disappointment. This man was the reason his own daughter might not make it through the night. He was the person that put her into that hospital bed. And she was a fine surgeon. Just as good as her sister, maybe even better due to her exquisite knowledge and learning and memory capabilities and capacity. Plus she was a nice girl, a good person. She was gentle, and caring, and sweet. She didn't just fix patients, she also cared for them. She didn't deserve some of the crap she'd been put through, especially not this.

Webber watched as Thatcher gazed around the room in a state of oblivion and awe. After staring him down with a hateful, disgusted glare Webber stepped into Thatcher Grey's view.

"Oh, Chief Webber," Thatcher greeted after recognizing the man's presence.

"It's just Dr. Webber now Thatcher," Webber corrected.

"Oh sorry,"

"Don't be sorry about that. You mind telling me what you're doing here?"

Thatcher's stupid grin dropped. He went silent for a moment and then spoke up trying to defend himself. "I know. I know I'm an idiot. I know that I just risked my health. I know that what I did was wrong and that I took it overboard. I didn't even realize that I had been drinking until I was so drunk that I had to be brought here. It's just that my…my girlfriend…she left me and I…I was really upset and I… I didn't know where to turn."

"So you turn to family…You turn to friends who will be there to help you through it no matter what. You turn to the people in your life that matter the most to you. You turn to the ones who love you unconditionally and want nothing but your happiness and well-being…Not a 50 dollar bottle of scotch and an old Kenny G record. Ive been there. I know what that's like. I know how it feels to shut yourself out from the world and just live in your own bubble where all there is in your life is a day of work and a couple of drinks to toss back so you can get through the night. I was drunk for years. I sobered up though. Sure I slipped up a couple times too but I'd never touch the stuff again. Especially not after taking a liver transplant from the daughter I left behind when she was five years old and forgot about until she was in her twenties. Now that… That I'd never ever do." Webber commented angrily.

Thatcher looked horrified at the man who was rambling about ethics at him.

"Do you realize what you've done? Do you? I don't think you know just what you did." Webber leaned in closely to him, still yelling.

"I...I am not going to take up drinking again. I swear. This…This was just a one time thing. I'm done. I'm done now.

"I'm not talking about you realizing that you were drunk…I'm asking if you realize what you did _while _you were drunk." Webber gave another deathly glare.

"Nuh…No…Wha…What did I do? I did something bad? Am…Am I under arrest? Did I break the law? Is that why I'm cuffed? I thought that the handcuffs were for…for my own safety."

"No you ignorant fool. You assaulted your daughter. Your own daughter. You smashed her in the face with your bottle and then kicked her while she was down so many times that she had internal bleeding. You put her in a damned coma. She just came out of it and we found that she had brain damage so she's in her second surgery. All because of you. She may have permanently lost her visions if she doesn't lose her life. Do you understand the seriousness of this now?" He gave an epiphany to Thatcher.

"Is…Is that what Dr. Shepherd was talking about? I…I did that? Oh...Oh my God. I can't. I can't believe that I… "

Webber realized that his outburst was out of line. He frankly didn't care but it was against hospital policy and everyone was starting to stare and worry. He wanted to be the better man in this situation.

"Why don't I leave you to ponder that? Maybe then you'll realize your mistakes. You know…I always understood…Why you left Ellis…and Meredith even. But this…This I'll never understand. Treating your new family…The ones who loved you and cared for you through it all no matter how big of an idiot you were. Treating them like crap…I'll never get that." Webber whispered into his ear with disrespect.

"I want to see her….I need to apologize."

"I won't take you to her. You can find someone else. I wouldn't dare deliver such an awful thing to that poor, sweet girl. And I'll tell you right now. You're in for a lot of trouble. Everyone hates you for what you did. You're going to need much more than an apology if you even think you can win that girl back. You're done hurting her now." Richard responded to his request. And with that he walked away to get to the OR and see what he could do to help…And to make sure they hadn't killed Lexie Grey.


	14. Chapter 14: Everything will be alright

Chapter 14: Everything will be alright

Cristina didn't want to do this. She wasn't generally a very comforting person. She was more of a suck it up you loser kind of person when it came to it. She didn't like conversations about feelings and she really didn't like handling other people's emotions, especially those of people who weren't her friends. And Mark Sloan…Mark Sloan was not a man she considered her friend. Sure they were colleagues, he was Derek's best friend and he had been in a relationship with Lexie but that did not make them anywhere close to be friends. But unfortunately this was not the time for her to be thinking about herself. She had to for once put herself aside and think about someone else. Mark was hurting right now and he needed a friend to be at his side…To help him through this and to show him that things will turn out okay. Since all of his closest friends were busy trying to save Lexie's life she would have to suffice.

She entered the gallery and saw him. He was now sitting down again, anxiously watching the surgery while resting his chin in his hands. He was very shaky and you could automatically see how nervous he was. He was rocking back and forth slightly and had a slouched over posture. He looked extremely exhausted and his emotions were out of control.

Cristina stepped in and sat beside him, not saying anything, not even looking at him. She wanted him to make the first move. And he did. He turned his view a smidge to acknowledge her presence and almost immediately started crying.

Cristina patted and rubbed his back to provide some sympathy and care to the wreck of a man who was hunched over even more now, covering his face in his hands.

"It's okay. Let it out. You don't need to hold it in. Don't be afraid to cry. All of us have been crying today. No one is judging you for showing your emotions because it just means that you deeply care about her…And we all knew that already." Cristina coaxed.

Mark lifted his head. His eyes red and puffy from the stinging tears and his mouth slowly quivering with his words, "Yang…She's the love of my life. I've tried…I've tried to not love her but it just doesn't work. I wanted to let her go this time so that she could be with a better man who'd treat her right and wouldn't go knocking up his best friend….A man like Avery. He was good for her. I just wanted her to be happy…Without me. Because I don't make her happy, I just keep making her more and more miserable. I want her to be free from me but I made her love me so much that now she can't be with anyone else. And I don't want to be with anyone else either but she deserves more, so I let her go and she just keeps coming back. Like when you try to let your dog lose, and he shows up at your porch the next morning, wagging his tail and barking for you to let him inside. But now…Now she…She might die. I mean she could really die. I could lose her for good," Mark started to cry so hard that he couldn't keep speaking.

Cristina then grabbed him in a big hug. He rested on her shoulder and wept as squeezed him tight and patted his back. "Shepherd is great at what he does…He's not going to let her slip away. He has to make her better…._Has to. _And you better know that you are a good guy. Don't underestimate yourself and don't make these assumptions that you aren't right for her and that you aren't what she needs. She _needs_ you. She can't function right without you. She broke up with Jackson because you were all she could think of, and Jackson knew that so he dumped her. She never stopped loving you. You are a part of her. She can't get rid of that part. She got angry and scared so she walked away. You shouldn't hold her hostage to that though because she feels bad. Really bad. She feels stupid for ever doing it because she's right back to where she started, living with the fact that she can't have you and loving you silently every single day wondering if you felt the same. She still wants to be with you. But she doesn't what to break-up what you and Julia have. She wouldn't admit it but…She'd give up everything for you."

Mark looked into Cristina's eyes. He could tell that she really meant what she had just said.

"C'mon, they'll be finished with the surgery soon. Let's go down so we can be there waiting for her when they bring her out." Cristina coaxed some more, standing up and holding out her hand for him to take so she could help him up. He reached out and took the offer and Cristina pulled him up to his feet. She put her arm on his back as they walked and continued to talk.

"Everything will be alright. I know that a lot of people have been saying that but I mean it." Cristina assured.

(Expect some pretty sweet action in the next chapter involving Thatcher and Mark. I bet you can guess what'll go down )


	15. Chapter 15: The hell is he doing here?

Chapter 15: The hell is he doing here?

The two men escorted him upstairs, following the strict orders that had been given to them by both Mark Sloan and then the former Chief himself, Richard Webber. They were to not let the patient named Thatcher Grey out of their sight and they were to monitor him closely until they were ready to figure out what to be done with him. But he had been creating an unholy ruckus in the emergency room and disrupting other patients. It left them not much of a choice. They could sedate him or fulfill his one wish to be brought to see his daughter.

So they walked upstairs, one standing on both sides of him so he couldn't make a run for it. They had paged Webber letting him know that they were bringing the man upstairs and when they came to the scrub doors he was already standing there waiting.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He said, folding his arms and waiting for the men to answer.

"The patient told us that you had told him he could come see his daughter if someone else brought him," One answered boldly.

"Yes but I meant after the patient was actually out of her surgery." He screamed angrily with frustration, "Lexie Grey is still in the operating room fighting for her life, the last thing we need is that mess of a man being here. Take him back, I'll tell you when we're ready for him,"

"Wait. Richard. I know you're all angry right now but…I can't go on without at least seeing her. I did this to her." Thatcher cut in.

"No. I will not permit this. Patients are not allowed into the operating room or the gallery anyways. Don't ask me to go out of my way and break policy for you." Richard shouted.

There was a silence in the hall. No one seemed to make a single sound or the slightest movement. They just stared at each other when a voice came from behind Richard.

"The hell is he doing here?" It exclaimed angrily. It was a tough, throaty and masculine voice. A voice very recognizable by Webber. It was Mark. Mark Sloan.

Everyone turned to see him standing there. His face was captured in a look of extreme anger. Cristina was holding one of his arms back so that he wouldn't pounce all the while she was whispering, "Mark. Calm down. Don't do this. He isn't worth it."

But he was too far gone to be coaxed down. His eyebrows were furrowed in fury. His fists were clenched tight. His whole body was spewing his rage. It was taking over. Like the Hulk. He just wanted to pound the heck out of the feeble man. The break his every bone and see how he felt to be put through so much pain.

"Mark. Let's just settle this easily," Richard tried to add to Cristina's speech.

"Alright I'll settle it the easiest way possible," Mark yelled and sprinted forward, pushing Cristina away and nearly knocking her to the ground in the process.

The two men didn't even have enough time before Mark was on top of Thatcher.

He started by knocking him to the ground and then getting on top of him to keep him from squirming. He gave him one good, solid punch to the face. Instantly drawing blood as he collapsed the man's cheekbone and gave him a black eye. All the while he was yelling profane and blasphemous words at the man. It was a matter of seconds before the two men tried to get Mark off of Thatcher. But Mark was too strong at the moment. He was fighting for something that mattered too much for him to give up easily. One man grabbed him so he pushed him off, going straight back to shaking up Thatcher. Then the other came at him with a punch. Knocking him off of Thatcher. He laid on the floor, losing his balance for a moment from the deathly blow to the right side of his face. Why was he always getting punched? He wondered.

He then, from where he was at, hunched over on the ground, lunged at the equally built man. Grabbing his ankles and pulling him down to the floor. His anger had taken over. He'd gone from guilt and sorrow, to anger and regrets. And that was what was powering him right now. He slapped the man across the face and kicked him in the gut. Richard and Cristina stood on the sidelines. Not wanting to get hurt by getting involved, but still trying to talk mark out of his insanity. As the guard Mark slapped across the face lay on the floor huddled in a ball rocking back and forth, griping his stomach, the other took a crack at Mark.

He stood up and grabbed Mark's shirt, pulling him up from off the ground. But Mark was too quick for him too. He popped him right in the nose as the man stood him upright. The guard fell back, squeezing his nose as it began to bleed. He shouted cuss words at Mark who stood over top of him, catching his breath and wiping the blood off of his face. Seeing the damage he'd done to all the men. He only wanted to get one shot at Thatcher, but they all had to intervene. As Mark finally stood still, done from his evil rampage Cristina and Richard ran to him and held him back. Shouting at him too. But Mark couldn't pay any attention and didn't listen to a thing they tried to say to him.

By now other people had flocked to see what the loud commotion was for. Some nurses bent down to help the injured men who were yelping in pain, looking like little children instead of full-grown men.

There was only one thing Mark knew. He couldn't stay here. He'd just assaulted three people. Two of which were innocent men. He'd been made at Thatcher for doing it to Lexie and then he went and did the same thing, but just to even more people. God, he was in deep shit. Would he be arrested to? No he couldn't. Not before he got to see Lexie again. Before he even knew what he was doing he ran…he just broke free of Cristina and Richard and ran. Not knowing where he was going or what he was thinking, he just started running to find a place to hide. He needed to go somewhere that he could be alone in. Somewhere that no one would spot him. Just until Lexie was out of surgery and then he'd show himself. And then he'd apologize and explain himself… And hope to not get charges pressed against him.

Guess this will have to be a cliffhanger for all you viewers out there because alas I am going on vacation for about two weeks and I will not be able to type out my stories and upload them for all of you im really sorry everybody! Ill try to update as soon as I get home though. I wouldn't want to keep you all waiting too long! Plus im really pumped up about the next chapters anyways! They are extremely amazing. I already have them planned out. I can give you some clues so you aren't too anxious.

For sure you will see a Meredith and mark scene. I feel like that was something necessary in this story. You'll get to see Lexie after the surgery because of course she survives it. We will have Mark's confrontation with Julia within the next few chapters as well…I believe it will be satisfying to you all. I'm going to show you what happens with all the people Mark beat up as well hah they got what they deserved anyways lololol I ain't even mad about it. Mark and lexie will grow closer as well but Mark will try and detach of course because he doesn't feel like he's what Lexie needs. He'd rather her be with someone who he thinks will treat her better. We'll see sofia be brought in, just cause I thought that'd be cute. I think I'll through in some kind of Jackson scene even though that boy needs to stay away from our slexie, so it won't be anything big. Bailey will give some caring words to Lexie too. All of her friends will provide a huge support group for her as she tries to heal. That's all im disclosing! You'll have to wait and see for the rest;) alright thanks for all the kind reviews so far everyone. You all rock for following my story! I'll update like the second I get home


	16. Chapter 16: Don't Press your Luck

Yay! Congrats guys! i somehow found internet and managed to get my story loaded and everything just because i was so excited to know what you thought of this chapter! i really like it so i was hoping you did too. Sorry if the formats screwy, i didnt have my nice microsoft, i had to type on a crummy notepad thingy on my laptop so it might not come out as nicely as the past chapters. Anyways, dont expect me to update a lot more lately because im still on vaca and dont have a good source but its very possible that i may again sometime! lol i cant live without my internet. i succesfully talked my parents into paying for a week of wifi:) Anyways heres your early present...i made it an extra long chapter just for all of you guys out there so please please leave reviews so i can read them off my email and feel good about myself:) cos im in hell here without my normal schedule (im not a good traveller) so this chapter is kinda split into three different parts because it jumps from chapters so it just made sense that way. alrighty! enjoy and thanks so much for your kindness so far! ;) oh and just tell me if theres any errors that dont make sense in the chapter and ill try and fix them

Chapter 16: Don't press your Luck

Mark went to the only place in the building right now that he could think of where he could be safe and wait for Lexie to be brought back at the same time...Her hospital room. It was completely empty now. Not a soul was inside the room. he snuck in and turned on the lights, making sure no one passing by saw him. He didn't want to draw any unwanted attention right now. He huddled into the corner between a chair and the sidetable which usually sits next to the hospital bed, but right now since the bed had been removed to rush Lexie to the scanner it stood alone. Mark crouched as much as he possibly could to hide himself in the little space. He curled into a ball with his legs pulled close to his chest and his head resting ontop of his knees as his mind flashed about a thousand different thoughts through his head. He wished he could shut his brain off and stop thinking so much. He just wanted the [ain to go away. He didn't know how many more friends and family members he could lose or come close to losing before he'd go mad. Well he was already mad. A sane and calm person doesn't just go and attack a bunch of people now do they? Not only could he feel the emotional pain though. He started to feel the throbbing in his hand and face as his body began to relax and the adrenaline wore off. Why the hell did I do that? He'd wondered. But then again it felt so good to beat up Thatcher that he almost didn't feel bad about the other guys. He'd lost it. He just lashed out from the anger and sadness that was overcoming him. I mean,it happens to the best of people right?

The sonofabitch should not have been up there; he should've been chained to the bed like the animal he was. Then again could he really be one to talk. He did go crazy and beat up three people and then flee the scene like a little baby. Would they understand his predicament though? Or would he be treeated like anyone else and be locked up in jail? He really hoped not. He wanted to be there for Lexie right now. From start to finish. He needed to be there for her to help her recover. After all she'd always been there for him in the past. She comforted him when Callie and Arizona had gotten in the car crash. even though she'd been dating Jackson at the time. She set it all aside to take care of him. Shouldn't he do the same? Because right now she was the one who was physically hurt. Which made it even worse. He felt even more need to help her. He just hoped for his life that no one would be pressing charges against him. He'd hurt them pretty bad so he woudn't be surprised if they did. He knew that he for sure broke one of the guys noses. The heavier white guy in his late twenties to early thirties. As for the tough black guy who was atleast an inch taller than him, he'd actually made cry and rock back and forth on the ground like a little kid who'd just fallen and scraped theeir knee. He'd really gotten him with the jab to the stomach. And Thatcher...He'd given the grand slam to. He'd definately given him a black eye and probably fracturing his cheek bone and broke open his lip. All he could remember was that there was a lot of blood. And then he saw the job he'd done. Thatcher's face had instantly swelled up like a balloon and was extremely red and bruised just from his slaps and punches. But it all happened so fast that he couldn't really recall all of the details.

He wondered if he should come out of hiding and apologize. But if he did would the cops be there on the spot waiting to cuff him and drag him away? He couldn't risk it. He couldn't risk not getting to see Lexie atleast one more time to know whether she was alive or not. He hated this. He didn't feel himself/ His mind didn't feel like his own. It felt like the mind of some mental patient down in the psych was really getting overwhelmed again nnow. His emotions and feelings were overpowering his body once again. He started to shake, and sweat but yet he had the chills, he was lightly hyperventilating as his breaths came in harsh wheezes. Hot tears streamed down his face as he tried to stay calm but it wasn't working the slightest bit. It felt like he was having a panic attack. Maybe he was. It was very possible with all the stress he was in right now. He needed help, but his legs wouldn't move. It was like his brain didn't have control over them anymore. They just stayed where they were, stiff and trembling. Luckily Meredith had very good timing though. She came running into the room. expecting Lexie to be there she called out her name but came to an abrupt hault as she realized that no one was in here. She was about to turn the other direction and sprint to find where her sister was when she heard a gasp of breath, almost like a cry, coming from under the chair. She stepped closer observing carefully to uncover what the mysterious noise was. It was then that she discovered what the curious sound was coming from. It was Mark Sloan. It didn't exactly look like Mark Sloan. It even took her a moment for it to click that it indeed was him. What was hiding under the chair looked more like a scared and frantic little boy. He was pulled into a ball to make him looked even smaller in fact. This was a sad sight to see. It shocked Meredith beyond comprehension. This guy, the guy with the awful reputation. The so-called 'man whore' with the tough guy, hard, grew up without a real family kind of guy was now huddled in a corner sobbing his eyes out over...a girl. A girl who he wasn't even with anymore and a girl who happened to be Meredith's sister. Thid was really the first time that Meredith had seen him so unrecognizable. Sure there were other moments that made her think different of him in a good way too but this...This was just extraordinarily mind-blowing to her. When Callie had almost died Mark was sad of course and he was scared and he cried...But he mostly kept it together and still held his asshole, man-whorish reputation. But now...That was completely disintegrating away before her very eyes. He looked so...Weak and wimpy and scared and fragile. He was too depressed maybe.

He looked nothing like Meredith knew him by. This was definately not easy on him. He was already getting a dirty stubble from a day without shaving. He looked grimey and grizzly. His eyes lacked personality and only showed sadness and pain in a glazed over gaze. His posture lagged and his shoulders were slouched down. His hair was messy and unkempt. His cheeks looked more sunken in than normal giving his face a general thin appearance. He just looked like a mess. A total wreck. The pallor of his skin was a waxy grey. Had he eaten or drank anything lately? She wondered. Cos it looked as if he'd dropped ten pounds in just 24 hours.

"Oh...Mark," Meredith said, surprised to see him here sitting all alone when Lexie wasn't even in the room. Suddenly she got a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. Had she...Died? Was that why Mark looked so sad and was sitting all by himself, crying? "What are you doing here? Oh...Oh God...Lexie, is she still in surgery?  
Is she alright, Mark?"  
"Yeah," Was all he said, not really answering her multiple questions clearly. He must be depressed. His head was still hung over, looking down aat the ground. He didn't even lift it to look up at the sound of Meredith's presence. He just kept his gaze on the tiled floor. It wasn't until Meredith walked closer that she noticed the many oozing, bloody cuts markig up his face and the huge blood stains covering his shirt and coating his arms and hands. Holy crap what happened to him? She wondered at first,  
then she spoke up in a concerned and shocked, curious voice, "What the hell happened to you Mark?"

Mark moved his eyes a little to look at his shirt. He lifted it from his chest a little to get a better look at all of the dark crimson blood coagulating one of his favorite shirts. Ah screw the shirt, he thought to himself, You can get another shirt but you can't get another Lexie. "Not all of it's mine. Actually the majority of it isn't." He answered completely leaving out the whole rising action and climax to the story and skipping straight to the resolution without explaining what actually went down to cause the blood to be there. Meredith moved even closer to him, pushed away the chair just a sidge to the right and plopped down next to him. Mark realized that Meredith needed a little bit more background information to understand so he tried to further explain but he didn't to go through the full thing again...Nor did he even really know the full story so he made it short and sweet, getting straight to the point, "I...Well it's...complicated but your Dad showed up unexpectedly by Lexie's OR when me and Yang were walking by and I...  
guess i just couldn't control myself. I lashed out ant him and beat up the two guards watching him in the process as well. Long story short, I fled the scene and i've been hiding here ever since. I'm afraid they'll arrest me...For assault or something. I can't go to jail right now...I have to be here for Lexie...I still love her Meredith. So much. It hurts sometimes. Being with Julia, i thought that would make it easier...I thought i wouldn't have such strong feelings for Lexie anymore but they've gotten even worse." He spoke from his heart with Meredith squeezing his shoulder sympathetically, listening intently to him and actually caring about the things he was saying, "I just went through this last year with Callie and my own kid...But i...I hate to...No i can't. I hate to admit this...I...i think i'm more scared right now. I think i care ven more right now. It's messed up i know. I can't explain it...i just do," He finished crying with each of the painful words coming from his mouth.

"You love her Mark. Don't feel bad about caring. Don't feel bad about loving her. Don't feel bad about choosing her over someone else. Because if it came to it...i would choose Derek. I might even chose him over Cristina. I probably would. And in my opinion Lexie, she's the best thing that could've ever happened to you. And i could see it...  
I could see how she changed you so much...In so many different ways. She made you a better man. And i velieve she made you want to become a better man. You wanted to change for her. I don't think she realized then just how much you wanted to change for her. You wanted to have a marriage, and a family and a life with her. She wants those things too. I'm sure. She just was young and oblivious and she wasn't ready. But she's growing up. She's becoming a woman. She's not a little girl anymore. She's gonna be thirty and she might think that she's still too young...but she's not. Life is short. It is. I know it best. I've seen so much death in my life. Sometimes its hard to get a grip on whats reality and whats just pretend, but us surgeons we know it at hand. Because we dealwith reality every day. We try to beat the odds but they're odds for a reason. Because they do happen...a lot. More than we'd like. But we've come to face that people die...All the time. They git sick, or they get hit by a bus or they or they just grow too old. Life isn't forever, it has to end sometime. And we can prolong that...But we can't stop it." Meredith went on with a long and probably pointless speech to try and open Mark's eyes.  
"She's your sister, how are you holding up?" Mark inquired, avoiding just about everything meredith said and trying to change the subject, as he turned and looked at Meredith.  
"Better than you i guess," She offered as an answer, "But i'm scared too. And i feel guilty...A little shallow too." Mark made a strange face which told Meredith that she needed to elaborate for him to understand what she meant. "When she first came to Seattle grace i hate her...For no good reason other than the fact that she was my father's biological daughter. I resented her for being the daughter that he chose to stay with and have a long, happy perfect family with you know? But i mean...Now look at the situation. She's lying on an operating table because our father hit her with a bottle...And if i were the daughter he'd chose... That could've been me. And all this time i'd wished that i could go back and make my dad stay but would it have just turned out with him assaulting me instead in return? It just makes me feel guilty. And i still feel guilt for being so mean to her when we first met. I tried so hard not to like her but she was just too damned good at changing my mind about her. She'd always come and say something corny that eventually won me over. Like...She told me these five little things. She said something about hating apples, and liking math, playing the trombone, being amazing at an etch-a-sketch. And at the end she said...So thats five things that i hope will make it harder for you to hate me. It was those little thingsthat really made me like 's such a sweet girl. I love her dearly now. I'd do anything to keep her here. i don't want to lose her now. She's my friend now. We have a relationship that i always hoped to have with my 'hypothetical sister that i dreamed of growing up. I would take a bullet for that girl...And i almost did. Well for all of them...The Chief, Derek, Cristina, Avery, Hunt, April. I tried to keep them from all getting shot by Gary Clark. He was there to specifically kill Derek, Webber and Lexie for killing his wife. But i offered my life, i volunteered for him to shoot me instead so i could save them all. its just scary...She could've died that day too. Coming face to face with Clark like that...If the SWAT guy hadn't been there to shoot Gary Clark she'd probably gotten shot too."  
"What?" Mark suddenly came to life and asked with a hint off anger and confusion and hurt in his face.  
"Wha... You didn't know? Lexie never told you?" Meredith asked.  
"No...She never said a thing. It was when she went out to get the supplies for Karev? My God. I can't believe..."  
"I'm sorry i thought you knew. I thought she would've already told you before...Maybe she was trying to protect you," Meredith apologized.  
"I just can't chose. i can't decide Meredith. My heart...it screams Lexie, it tells me to be with here but then my head keeps getting in the way and itsays that i need to let her go once and for all, so she can be free from me to find a better man who'll treat her right and make her unconventionally happy. A guy that won't hurt her as much as i have,"  
Mark expressed his feelings on the topic.  
"What makes you think you aren't that man?" "I've just hurt her so many times. I don't want to do that to her anymore. I don't want her to be driven crazy by me everyday to the point where she can't have normal relationships with other guys. To the point where she has to cry herself to sleep at night. To the point where she can't focus on her work when i'm around. I can't have shouldn't have to give up her dream life to settle for a guy like me. I'm already complicated enough. She doesn't need that in her life,"  
"How would being with the man she loves be settling? She loves you...You love her. Isn't that all that should matter?" Meredith said, sounding rather sophisticated and smart.  
"We just never work out together. I always have to screw it up for us. I pushed her too fast. I tried too hard. And i keep having illegitimate children popping up on me. How can i be the better man when i'm such a horrible person...I was horrible to her. I left her behind. I made her feel like she was nothing. I chose Sloane Sloan over her. Why the hell did i do that? The girl didn't even like me. And then she wouldn't even let me adopt my own grandson. I wish i could re-write my life and change all the mistakes i've made. It'd take a lot of ink to fix all the errors i have made." He said sadly.  
"You tried to be a good Dad and so what. Sure that was a mistake but how could you have known. You had paternal instincts on the brain...Don't beat yourself up about that. It's in the past...it's over. And Lexie...She loves you anyways. Even after all those things. She'll never stop loving you either. Why go on with life being apart and worrying about silly things and doubts when you could be together and forget about the rest...And just be happy." Meredith tried to give him his answer as she backed it up with a gentle and playful bump to the shoulder to cheer him up and reassure him. he gave her a little smile and stretched his legs out, laying them flat on the cold ground now.

There was an awkward pause of silence between the two where all that could be heard was eachother's breathing and the ocassionally ring of the telephone or voice of a person passing by the room they were in. Meredith turned away from gazzing out the opened door and went back to staring into Mark's blue eyes. "Now...How about we get those nasty cuts of yours cleaned up so that you can look nice when they bring Lexie back?" She put her hand ontop of his which were laying in his lap and gave him a grin. He smiled once again and agreed. So Meredith got up and went to find a supply closest so that she could get him stitched up on her own and keep him away from everyone else until he got to see Lexie again.

************************  
"Ow dammit!" one of the guards, which was the tall and tough bad-ass looking black man who originally came from the Bronx before he'd moved out west cried out with a lingering New York accent as Richard Webber injected the long needle was into the cut on his face which had been put there by Mark Sloan.

"Sorry," Webber apologized, "It hurts now but you'll be crying tears of joy when you have no permanent damage done to your face tissue. I probably don't have the most gentle hands for this job either, it's just that our head of Plastics happens to be the man who gave you these battle wounds so i can't exactly call him to handle you guys,"

"That damned sonofabitch is toast. Once i get my hands on him i swear to God...He'll be sorry he ever did this to me. I've been a security guard sixteen years now. Ever since i was twenty years old...not once did someone disrespect me in such a way. Even back when i lived in New York." He rambled angrily, feeling more defeated and embarassed than anything.

"Atleast you didn't get fricking Hulk smashed in the nose!" The other guy, a blond and hefty twenty something year old lifted his head up from laying back on the stretcher and removed the gauze pad from his nose to talk. Then he plopped back down, grunting and making a loud noise from his weight.

"Really...never? Not even a little bit? You mean to tell me some boys never roughed you up on the streets of the Bronx? You were awful lucky then." Richard said sarcastically not believing that he was telling the truth.

"Sure...A little bit but i worked there when i was young. Only for the first three years of my career. I've been here ever since...And while i was here the worst i ever got was a loogie spat at me by some cranky old woman." He answered. Webber gave a chuckle of laughter, as did the guard.

"its true," He finished, "And it was wwhen i was twenty five. I still had my big frizzy afro before i turned to the shaved look that i have now," He smoothed down his nearly hairless head that just had a small layer of fuzzy hair.

Just then Chief Hunt began walking towards them. "Hey Richard...They're transporting Lexie from the surgical room just about now. I left a little early when Shepherd and Torres were finishing things up because a scrub nurse came in to warn me about...a fight that went down outside of the OR? Is that correct...What happened? She said Mark Sloan and you and Cristina were there for sure." He walked up to Richard and said.

Cristina looked up from bandaging the blond guy's nose at the sound of her name.

"Who are the patients?" Hunt asked. "What is their connection? Why the heck would Mark want to hurt them? I don't think i understand," Hunt said in confusion trying to gather the information he was lacking.

"Patients are Melvin Brickman, 36 year old African American male , and Ronald Burk, 28 year old caucasian male. They were both the guards in charge of watching Thatcher because the police officers couldn't sit around and wait any longer so they left it to them. Thatcher got the worst of it. I already finished cleaning him up, he's behind the curtain." Richard informed.

"Well where the hell is Mark then?" Hunt demanded.

Both Richard and Cristina were silent. Richard clenched his jaw and gathered his thoughts, forcing the strength to come out with it, "We don't know. He took off after he attacked the three gentlemen. We haven't seen him since. No one has. We have people looking out for him. His under our radar right now. I think he got scared after realizing what he did and he's probably staying down low right now...he doesn't want to get into trouble...he just wants to see Lexie," Webber concluded.

"he probably found a clueless nurse to take advantage of so he could get his lacerations stitched up," Cristina said rather heartlessly, but meaning it as a joke.

"What was that dudes problem anyways?" Ronald, or 'Ronnie" as he'd asked to be called suddenly asked. "I get that he was angry but why'd he take it out on us?"

Both Hunt, Webber and Cristina stopped to look at him. "he almost lost his...person," Cristina said. "She's not his girlfriend anymore but he still loves her and all that sappy crap that would make a killer romance movie. They're soulmates or whatever and now she's half dead and he was feeling really terrible and guilty and mega depressed and that all turned to anger so he beat the living crap outta you to make himself feel better," Yang announced in her usual sarcastic tone and gave a fake smile to the guy.

"Not exactly but she basically got it right." Webber corrected,"He almost lost the love of his life to that fool you were watching over so he wanted revenge but you two got in the way so he took it out on you too. He just snapped. It happens to the best of us. It wasn't his fault. He's proabbly very sorry he did it though,"

"Well isn't that great. I'm glad you think that," Melvin suddenly changed his state of mind and tone to one of anger, "But honestly i don't care what you think. I care about that asshole jumping on top of me and almost killing me. What makes you think he's sorry? Because to me, i think he's sitting real comfy somewhere in this hospital maniacally laughing about how he got to beat some guys to a pulp."

Cristina gave him a weird disgustful glare before walking away to finish charts sos he could go see Lexie and find Meredith. Hunt was also about to leave but first he said, "I'm going to go see how Lexie is doing now, you wanna come with me?" To Webber, who was still staring hatefully at the patient.

"yeah...i don't think i can stay here much longer without pulling a Mark Sloan," The former Chief said, making a reference to Mark attacking the guys. As he turned to walk with Hunt.

Melvin screamed after him, "He assaulted me! That is against the law and I will be pressing charges!"

"Don't press your luck!" Webber fired back without even facing the man and stormed off with Hunt to go see Lexie.

Derek, Callie, Bailey and a few other people from the surgical team slowly and very carefully pushed Lexie's bed back into the room as to not disturb and awake the patient by a harsh, bumpy transport. All of them were startled to see Meredith and Mark already inside the room. They both looked up as Derek whispered, "Mark...What the?" inquiring about the fact that he was beat up, bloody and bruised and Meredith was stitching up his hand. There was a mess of supllies around the floor from Meredith trying her best to fix him up on her own. He was sitting in one of the chairs that were next to where Lexie's bed had once been, as Meredith kneeled beside him and stitched carefully on his good, surgery hand as they called. Without that hand working properly he'd be useless as a surgeon.

Mark didn't look like he wanted to talk. At first he opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again and looked back down at his hand as Meredith finished off her stitch. "He got into a little miunderstanding with Thatcher and two other guys," Meredith answered for Mark,purposely leaving out most of the details and understating the events of the entire ordeal.

"Oh God Mark, what did you do now?' Derek inquired with feeling as he stepped away form the bed, and let the others handle moving her inside, so that he could speak to the two of them. Mark completely ignored this remark from Shepherd as well. there were other things on his mind. As they wheeled Lexie in Mark abruptly stood from the seat, making a loud screech with the chair legs. She was alive. That was enough for him right now. It was assuring enough to him to bring a small ounce of joy to relieve his heart attack and overabundant misery. He didn't even let Meredith finish cleaning his injuries before he was back at Lexie's side. He was as faithful to her as a hound dog.

"How about we save the small talk for later?" Meredith said to Derek from her kneeling position on the floor.

Derek nodded and then turned to watch them reattach Lexie to all of her machines. Mark already holding her hand again, crying more joyful tears then before but still he was worried...She might not make it just because she survived the surgery. He knew that. He ever so gently ran his fingers over the large gauze wrap covering her incision spot on her head. This triggered the waterfalls for him.

Derek, Bailey and Torres then proceeded to take a step back and remain a respectable distance so they could let Mark and Merdith get the first chance to be with her. As Meredith walked to her sister and slumped down next to Mark, rubbing her sister's leg and conversing ligthly with Mark, Derek observed from the doorway where he Bailey and Torres were all standing in a row. He knew this moment wouldn't last. When she woke up...If she woke up, it wouldn't be this simple. Their lives were all about to get exponentially harder now...

"I wasn't quick enough," Derek said out loud, but only loud enough for the two women standing next to him to hear. "I didn't move quick enough...I waited too long to get to the scans.I don't know where my mind was. It's like i didn't think at all this whole time. All of my decisions were wrong and stupid. I should have rushed things. I should have opened her up a long time ago. i could've risked her any number of things. Permanent vision or hearing loss...She's already had seizures. I mean what the hell was I doing today? I didn't do anything right, i didn't act like a surgeon...i acted like a scared brother...Which i am but i should've have showed it in my work...In all honesty...The brain could've been compromised."

Both Bailey and Callie gave him the 'raised eyebrow' look. But Callie let Bailey do the talking first, "You didn't do anything wrong Shepherd okay...You were scared...And tired...We all are. It's been a long day for us and we stayed past our shifts for this which makes us even more tired. You slipped up, but you didn't kill her... You saved that girl. She's gonna wake up. We all know it. Making mistakes is a human thing Derek. Just remember that. You weren't prepared for this...None of us could've been. You did the best you could..." She assured his self-image and gave him a pat on the back to comfort him for feeling weak as a surgeon and worrying about Lexie's state of being.

"Yeah and sometimes your best isn't enough but with you Shepherd... i don't think so. Your worst is enough to save a patient. You're really good at what you do. You're good enough to correct a little intracranial pressure, come on now." Callie said in a high voice.  
"I don't think you understand...That's my sister-in-law right there in that bed," Shepherd suddenly turned his calm mood to one of anger, but still stayed relatively quiet as he spoke his rage. "That girl right there is the only contact my wife has with her own biological family. Lexie is special. She has helped Meredith in ways that Meredith hasn't even realized. She's weakened the commitment and family issues that Meredith had before. She has contributed to bringing Meredith out of her dark stage. She has made Meredith learn how to love because she does love Lexie. I can see it. She cares very deeply about that girl. Not only is she that though, she's also my best-friends ex-girlfriend...Whom he obviously still loves. If we lose her they'll...I don't even know, but they'll be devastated and heartbroken. I can't let that happen. I like her. I enjoy being around her. SHe's a fun and light person. She's easy to talk to. She was a promising student. I had hoped to train her to major in neurosurgery. Now she's the one needeing neurosurgery. She's beyond smart; dedicated, hard-working, sympathetic and caring. She's perfect for neuro. I hadn't told her anything yet because i didn't want her getting cocky...Now, she might never get the chance. She might not come out of this her normal self. Everyone is depending on me. Do you know how many people are depending on me to make her better?"

Derek then turned from looking at Mark, Meredith and the unconscious form of Lexie to look Miranda in the eyes.

"Ok lets try to think positively here Shepherd," Callie butted in with her bosy and firm hand, "Negativity is the last thing we need here. Yes we're all scared. This is very scary but she's alive. We'll just have to take that for now and have something to be thankful for because that girl is still alive, she isn't dead yet so stop acting like she is and think some damned positive thoughts.  
She's going to wake up and she's going to come out of this fine, okay? This is just the stress talking for you Derek. You're just stressing out,"

"Of course i'm stressing out," Derek cut into her sentence, "Just like how we were all stressing out over you when you were in the same position. Don't tell me to think something that isn't true. There is no positive side to this story Torres." Derek said sounding extremely selfish.

"Ok Shepherd we need to step out. You're getting loud. We don't want to disturb them. C'mon." Torres lead, pushing Derek towards the doorway.

"No...I'm fine. I'm sorry. Its just...Where the hell are Webber and Hunt...And Yang?" Derek replied, barely listening to what she was saying and avoiding her suggestion.

"I'm not sure." Callied answered him, "They all stepped out during the surgery. Didn't you notice? I think there was a problem in the pit or ER or something that they all needed to help handle. That's not important right now though. Let's go in the hallway and finish. We don't want to wake Lexie before she's ready," Callie said very caring and gently, almost motherly. "She needs all the rest she can get so her brain can heal Shepherd. You know that." Bailey added.

"I know but Meredith needs Yang in here. I think she'd be better if Cristina was with here right now. They're eachothers person or something. They work out their problems together."

Callie looked gingerly at both Mark and Meredith who were still sitting next to eachother. Then she responded to Shepherd with a smile, "I think she's just fine with who she's got,"

Derek finally realized it too. He returned her smile with a hint of laughter as he watched the two bonding over their hurt loved one. They'd always gotten along but they'd never really gotten to know each other much so they'd never become good friends. Now they looked as if they'd been BFFs all their life. They were comforting each other and talking through their tears. It was a sight to see. "They make a good support system for each other," Derek admitted.

Shepherd finally gave in and whirled around on his heels to exit the room. Torres and Bailey automatically followed to do the same thing but Shepherd was suddenly stopped by a raving Richard Webber. He appeared out of no where and stopped right on top of Derek so that he couldn't even move one step forward without running into the man. Richard looked insane. There was a light glaze of sweat shining on his forehead. He was all jumpy and rambunctious; his eyes moving in every which direction as if he were searching for someone. His voice come out at 100 mph, "How is she doing? Is she awake yet? How's Meredith too? Is she doing okay with all this? I had to leave the surgery so suddenly that i wasn't sure if it turned out okay. Is everything good? You got everything covered right?" He questioned so many different things at once that it overwhelmed Derek and he couldn't even get an answer out.

He kept his dreary look on as he responded with a calmly stated, " No she hasn't woken up. it'll take some time. We just transported her here a few minutes ago... The surgery was a success but there's no way of telling if it completely corrected everything until she gets up again. Now..keep calm, i know you're freaking out, i just was too. Can you lower your voice?"

"Of course. Sorry. I'm just not myself lately. This is just adding to it." Webber apologized empathetically. But as Webber looked past Shepherd into the room through the window he immediately stopped his sentence and the three watched as his face dropped into a frown. Callie and Bailey had stepped off to the side where Hunt had joined them as he casually walked up without saying anything and stood.

"Is that Mark Sloan in there?" Webber yelled with frustration.

He didn't even wait for an answer before pushing his way past Derek to get inside the room. "Mark, what the hell are you doing in here? Hiding? Did you think you could just hide and it would make all of your problems go away? well it won't. I've got a very angry injured man down in the ER ready to press charges against you. Now, do you really want that? I would think you'd rather stay here with Lexie but if you want to be a damned fool then go right ahead but i thought I'd be the better man because i didn't want to see your sorry-ass thrown in jail for this. I have the whole hospital searching for you. I've been trying to get to you before the police could. If i don't fix this problem soon that man will for sure be calling them on you. And I understand your pain right now so I want to help you but you can't even help yourself."

Mark watched Webber as he ranted angrily and held back his anger. He held in the frustration he felt momentarily because of this man and just took it. He took everything that Richard had to say without interrupting. He didn't let a single word slip past his lips until Webber finished talking. Meredith stood behind Mark moving her eyes from one person to the next with a disturbed facial expression.

"I was gonna come find you. I swear. I just needed to see her first is all. I needed to hold her hand again and know that she was alright before i faced the consequences for my actions." Mark answered apologetically to explain himself.

Derek came stomping into the room with his angry face on and yelled at Webber, "Richard get out of this room right now. Don't you dare disturb my patient who is trying to recover and her loved ones that are trying to cope with this. If you can't handle yourself then get the hell out and don't come back,"

Richard looked defeated and didn't reply to Shepherd. Instead he put his hands on his hips and looked around the room while biting his lip. Then he turned back to Mark and said in a less audible tone than before, "You'd better follow me. I was just trying to help you out. You dug your own grave, now you can lay down in it or you can cover it up. Make your choice. But your time is limited so make it fast Sloan. I'm tired of the things you people put me through." He then pushed his way back out of the room, walking through Hunt, Torres and Bailey who'd gathered in the doorway to left without even waiting for Mark or giving him a chance to catch up with him. He just expected him to go with him. He knew that it would be the right decision. But Mark didn't want to follow him. He didn't want to leave Lexie's beside. Especially not right now. He didn't want to be away from her in case something happened. What is she woke up while he was away? Or even worse...What if she were to...Die? He pushed all the overwhelming thoughts out of his head and stood up, unsteadily from the nerves that were making his body shake.

Meredith helped him the best she could and walked him to the door, both avoiding the eye contact of their colleagues as they walked past them. Mark stopped Meredith as soon as they were outside and held her by her shoulders to keep her from moving anymore. "Wait," He said and then looked up at her from down on the grounf where his eyes had previously been glancing. "Stay here. Lexie needs atleast one of us to be with her right now...i wish it could be me but since it can't you have to. But please,  
if she wakes up...The second she does send someone to get me RIGHT AWAY, ok?"

"Yes...Okay. Of course,: Meredith confirmed. Mark let go of her arms but Meredith stood in the same position like a statue. Derek walked out and squeezed her shoulder to help relieve her tension. But before Mark could leave Meredith called after him to wait. She ran up to him and hugged him. They held each other in a consoling embrace for a moment and Meredith whispered, "Good luck." into his ear. He closed his eyes and thanked her.

Then Hunt walked up to Mark andwhispered to him, "The patient is Melivin Brickman. He's the tough-looking guy originally from Brooklyn or somewher in New York. He'll be a challenge. He's pretty stubborn and seemed a little heartless. In the ER, bed 12. Cristina should still be there if you need extra help. Good luck Mark."He gently slapped his shoulderblade and then returned to his place inside the room. Callie and Bailey both gave Mark reassuring nods from the doorway and Callie even offered a warming smile. Mark exhaled and then sucked in a deep breath, swiveled around and began his journey in the other direction,

END OF CHAPT. 16

expectations for the next chapter: Well of course there will be Mar's big showdown with the stubborn guard. Will he be able to talk himself out of this one though? or will he spend his night in jail? Lexie for sure will wake up but her status i cannot yet disclose...You'll have to read to find out. I will try and incorporate some more heartfelt mer/lex and adorable slexie scenes. This might be the chapter where Julia and Mark have their first confrontation as well. Not sure on that yet. Thats about all i can sya but i know that one slexie scene will relate to a famous happening from season five. Youll just have to wait and see it though! :) thanks for your kindness and leave me all of your thought! i love to hear them.


	17. Chapter 17: One Lucky Sonofabitch

Here you go everyone! Another long chapter just for all my followers! Sorry it took so long. I was experiencing some writers block. Hope you all enjoy it btw sorry I didn't fit in the mark and Julia confrontation. Ive probably said this before but its for sure going to be in the next chapter! Which I will have out tomorrow!

Chapter 17: One Lucky Sonofabitch

As Mark's journey from Lexie's hospital room down to the ER neared its end he came to an abrupt halt. He stood in the distance and watched Cristina, and Richard and the guys that he'd apparently beat down interacting. He gulped down a lump in his throat and stood back to gather his wits and calm himself down. Finally after a few minutes of standing in the shadows and blending in with the rushing crowd to stay out of sight, Mark ventured out into the open and walked up to the group of people. As he approached all eyes shot towards him and everyone went quiet to let Mark make the first move. This completely destroyed Mark's calmness and made him even more uncomfortable. He could feel a surge of nervous heat shoot through his body, causing him to sweat. He wiped the sweat dripping on the back of his neck away as he came to a stop in front of them. Not knowing how to start the awkward conversation Mark chose the simplest word he could think of.

"Hello…" He said nervously, his voice cracking as he felt a wave of emotions ripping through him.

Richard's face looked generally unpleased but he pointed towards the two guards who were now positioned side by side in their hospital beds. "Mark, glad you could join us. The men here before us are 36 year old Melvin C. Brickman and 29 year old Ronald H. Burke."

"Alright let me just start off right away by saying how terribly sorry I am for what I did to you." Mark started immediately before either men could say anything. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I swear I never meant to hurt either of you. It was wrong of me to try and hurt Thatcher, the man you were escorting as well but I was just…Very very angry. I lost control. But I had a reason to. That man almost killed a woman. Not just any woman, his own daughter. And she just happens to be the woman that I am in love with. What would you have done if you were in my shoes?"

"No don't turn this on us. You did this man. Not us." Melvin yelled.

"I know I did. I'm just asking you to turn the situation around. If you were me would you have done the same? Or would you have just kept calm and put aside the fact that the man in front of you was the reason the love of your life might not make it through the night?" Mark questioned. "I'm not asking you to forgive me or for you to be sympathetic….Just try to give me a break. That's all I'm asking."

"Why should I?" The man fired back with crazy eyes. "I'm going to be out of work now. I got responsibilities man. I have a family to worry about. I can't waste my time worrying for some guy that I don't even know. Nothing I can do know. Police have already been called. This is outta my hands now brother."

"Then call them back and tell them not to come." Mark screamed at Melvin and got up in his face.

"Back up man! Where the hell do you get off telling me what to do? It's too late now…They already here," Melvin informed as he spotted uniformed men coming their way. Mark turned around with surprise as he spotted the police officers. It was happening now.

"Mark, they're just here to question. You won't even have to go down to the station. We could still resolve this." Webber whispered to him.

Mark nodded but he still felt tears pushing out. He did everything he could to hold them inside. His eyes became red and irritated as he violently rubbed at them.

"By the way…How's Thatcher? I didn't hurt him to bad, did I?" Mark questioned.

"No. He's alright. We figured we should keep him away from you momentarily though."

Cristina pushed her way through and leaned in close to Mark and then whispered to him. "I'm going to go sit with Meredith. I'll keep an eye on her Mark. I'm not going to let anything happen to Lexie while you're gone. Don't worry. Just keep your cool. You'll get through this."

Cristina's comforting words were surprising to Mark. She'd actually been nice to him. Which didn't happen very often. She was actually helping him. He felt like he could get through this now. As the police came closer Mark turned towards them and waited. He was ready now.

Cristina left to go upstairs and then Mark went with the police for their interrogation, or whatever they were going to do. Now it was just Richard left alone with the two guards. As soon as Mark was out of sight Richard stepped over to Melvin with his serious face on.

"You aid you have a family right?" He asked.

"….Yeah. A wife and a son. We've been married six years. My boy Jordan is 3 now." He answered reluctantly.

"You'd do anything for your family. Am I correct?"

"Sure,"

"Give him a second chance then. He's a good man. He's had a hard life too." Richard stared him down and then walked away.

Meredith sat at her sister's bedside watching over her as she slept when her best friend Cristina Yang entered the room.

"Hey," She said shyly.

Meredith turned her head towards her and greeted back, then faced her sister again.

"How…How's she doing?" Cristina asked, taking one awkward step closer.

"She's good. I think. She's still hanging on. Derek thinks she'll wake up within the hour which is really good. He went down to get Zola." Meredith informed Cristina.

"Alright, well I finished everything I needed to do tonight….If you don't mind I'm just going to stay here. I promised Mark that I would. He's really upset about having to be away from her. This way he knows she's safe."

"Yeah that's fine." Meredith answered, "I'm just waiting here until she wakes up. She's gonna wake up. I know it."

"Of course she is." Cristina assured, now stepping right up to her friend and resting a hand on her shoulder.

Meredith had started to tear up again, "It's just funny to me…You know, how when we first met…I hated her so much. And now…Now I can't bear the thought of losing her."

Cristina smiled and almost laughing a bit as she began rubbing Meredith's back, "You know I was almost jealous of her,"

Meredith turned towards Cristina with a 'say what' face, inquiring her to tell more.

"Yeah, it's true. Hardcore Cristina Yang was once jealous of her own intern. She was always so smart. Effortlessly smart. And everyone liked her. She was an easy, fun and light kind of person. I was never that. I thought it would help me be a better surgeon if I was."

"That's crazy," Meredith laughed through her tears now. They both joined each other's hearty laughter, but then it suddenly came to an awkward end.

Meredith laid her head down near Lexie's lap. The anxiety and exhaustion was getting the best of her. All she wanted to do was close her eyes for five minutes, but at the same time the paranoia kept her awake, which just made her even more tired. Both Cristina and Meredith were very quiet now. Neither one said a further word to each other. They just sat next to each other in silence. Meredith continued to restlessly lay her head down on the hospital bed whereas Cristina stared aimlessly out the window.

"Meredith…" Both girls heard. At first Meredith assumed that it was Cristina but after a few seconds she realized that it wasn't the voice of her best friend….It was Lexie. Meredith whipped her head up from the bed to see if it was true. That's when Meredith saw her sister's eyelashes flutter and then her eyes slowly part. She let out a gasp of excitement and then moved her chair closer to Lexie. She picked up her hand and said, "Yeah,"

Lexie's eyes were open now, but they still wandered aimlessly. Cristina stood at the foot of the bed watching over the two but not stepping in because she wanted Meredith to have this time alone with Lexie.

"Oh my God you're awake. I thought I was gonna lose you," Meredith cried as she hugged her sister.

Lexie smiled and joked, "I think I'll stick around for awhile….I didn't know you hated me that much."

Meredith gave a chuckle and then pushed, "My guess was that you could hear us….But can you see?"

"No…Still blind." She frowned.

"So you heard what…What I aid too?" Cristina asked from the foot of the bed.

Lexie gave a large laugh and then winced from pain, "Yeah…Maybe,"

"Cristina! Go find Mark and page Derek." Meredith yelled wildly as she remembered what she promised to do.

Cristina nodded her head and then ran out of the room.

Mark was being escorted by the police to say his final words to Melvin and Ronald. As he walked back to the familiar section of the hospital and saw the faces of the two men and Richard. His face was fixed into a frown of disappointment. He was disappointed in himself. He couldn't keep his promise to Lexie. That's all he wanted to do. To be by her side until she was better, but now that was being torn apart. Odds were he was going to jail.

"Say what you want," One of the officers said.

"Again…I'm really sorry. All of this was a huge mistake. I feel awful and I wish I could make it up to you somehow…" Mark began but was interrupted mid-sentence when Cristina ran up to them. She was out of breath as she shouted Mark's name. He whirled around rapidly to see who it was. Cristina jogged up to him and whispered into his ear, "Lexie's awake,"

Mark looked at her with an incredible amount of shock. He just stared at Cristina, their gazes connecting. Cristina looked around at the police standing there and then mouthed one word. Go. Mark's eyes widened. How could he do that? He'd get caught and stopped before making it there.

"I got you covered," Cristina then said and nodded her head.

Mark gave a quick glance behind him and then, with all of his energy, turned towards the stairs at a full-out sprint. The police tried to grab him quickly but Cristina posed as a distraction and body-blocked them until they threw her out of the way and ran after him. Richard tried to scream at them to let him go, but they wouldn't listen. They were already chasing after him.

Mark came to a sloppy halt at Lexie's room. He peered in and saw Meredith still there, as well as Derek. Derek was standing marking up his clipboard. Meredith was still sitting at Lexie's bedside. Mark walked in. Both Derek and Meredith turned to look at him. He looked like a mess. A big sweaty and exhausted mess. Derek walked up to Mark and gave him a toothless grin then slapped his shoulder and walked out of the room.

"Sorry Mark. You just missed her. She dozed off again." Meredith sighed as she stood up. She had Zola in her arms. "Me and Zo-Zo are gonna step out for a minute,"

Mark watched her leave and then turned towards Lexie. She was asleep again. Dammit. If he'd been here all this time he wouldn't have missed his chance to see her awake again.

Mark stood next to her for a moment, just remembering their better times. The times when they were happily together. Those times seemed so far away now. He wondered if he could ever get them back. He didn't know of anything right now, except one thing. He didn't have much time before the police would show up. He kicked off his shoes and shimmied his way into the bed, carefully so he wouldn't hurt her bad arm.

Lexie gave a sharp inhale and then slowly began to wake up. She sounded drowsy as she said, "Mark. What're you doing?"

"A long time ago when you'd hurt me you did this exact same thing. You climbed into my hospital bed and stroked my hair because you said that's what you'd like to have done for you if you were hurt. And now you are hurt, so I'm doing it for you." Mark informed.

Lexie smiled as he snuggled closely to her and began pushing his fingers gently through her luscious brown hair. As Lexie folded into his warm embraced and laid her head down on his chest she began to smile. Mark joined in with her. He wanted to stay here forever. He knew soon it would end though. The police were bound to arrive at any moment.

Little did he know something amazing would happen right outside the doorway. As he was comforting Lexie the police came rushing after finding out where Mark was. But what they were greeted by was Richard and Melvin, who'd been standing outside for a few minutes already.

"Wait gentlemen!" Richard called to them.

"What is it?" One asked.

"Mel has something he'd like to tell you,"

Melvin stepped away from the window and towards the men. "I've decided not to follow through with the charges I filed against Mark Sloan. I realized that it was all an accident. He's a good man. He didn't mean what he did. And I can't bear to tear him away from that woman in there. He looks very happy. I don't want to take that happiness away from him,"

The policemen nodded and then walked away without any further conversation.

"Thank you," Richard thanked the man.

"No problem. Besides, my boss says I get paid vacation for a whole month. That's a lot of time that I get to spend with my family. So he kind of did me a favor then. This is my way of thanking him for that. And it's my way of showing sympathy for that poor girl in there. I couldn't imagine being beaten half to death by my own father. I could never do that to my son. Give them my regards,"

Richard nodded with a smile and then shook the man's hand. Melvin was wheeled back down to the ER. Richard stayed behind and watched Mark cuddling Lexie. He gave a laugh and then whispered, "Mark Sloan you are one lucky Sonofabitch,"


	18. Chapter 18:The party's just begun

Chapter 18: The party's just begun

Derek was sitting outside Lexie's room at one of the nurse's desks a few feet away from the doorway. He'd already told Mark the good news about the guard dropping the lawsuit he was filing against him and that the police had already left, so he was back to studying his notes without cease. His eyes were starting to go fuzzy from all the reading he'd been doing. He set the board down for a minute to rub them back to life and then continued his working. Meredith had gone down to the cafeteria with Zola to get something to eat. Derek had declined though to stay on guard of Lexie. He was completely exhausted by now. It'd been two days since he'd gotten a good night's sleep. He'd barely taken any breaks either. He'd taken the day off from the rest of his patients to solely focus on being with Lexie and his wife and of course Mark, to help them through this. He wanted so badly to fix every problem, but he was only one man. He hoped everything would go well and that her vision would correct itself eventually, but what if it didn't? Would she forever be sightless? And if so how could she continue with her career? Mark was right when he said you can't operate on what you can't see. No one would allow a blind surgeon to operate on them. That would be ludicrous.

As Derek sat back in the wheelie chair with his feet up on the desk he noticed a figure walk up to the window of Lexie's room and peer in. As it clicked whom that figure belonged to he immediately fumbled up from his chair making a cacophony as he clumsily tried to get up from his seat. After escaping from the tight area he ran over to her.

"THE PATIENT IS LEXIE?" She screamed furiously upon Derek's arrival.

"Julia wait. NO. don't go in there. I told you not to come. Please don't disrupt the patient, she's been through hell and back in these past few hours." Derek tried to coax her out of it.

"All this time I was worrying so much about Mark to find out that he's weeping over his EX- girlfriend. This is ridiculous! Are you kidding me?" She shouted, pushing past Derek who kept following her trying to talk her down, but there was no stopping her now. She was infuriated. She was a volcano ready to blow.

"MARK!" She screamed as she stepped into the room.

Mark had started to drift off alongside Lexie and was now startled awake from his name being violently called out. As he looked out and saw his current girlfriend, who'd just caught him snuggling up to his past girlfriend, he knew he was in some deep shit now. He really couldn't catch a break could he?

"Wait! Please not here!" Mark held his hand out to her, trying to keep her from exploding inside the room while Lexie was trying to rest.

"Oh I'm so sorry for disturbing you in your little love fest here. Shall I come back later when you're ready?" Julia said sarcastically.

Mark began to carefully move Lexie off of him, speaking very quietly and hand-gesturing Julia to stay calm. "Please SHHHHHH. She just fell asleep. Don't wake her again."

"Of course. Anything for your precious little sweetheart." She continued her sardonic rage.

"Just stop." Mark grabbed Julia by the wrist as she persisted to stridently lecture and pushed her back into the hallway. All the while Derek just stood and waited.

"Why don't you explain what's going on here? Huh? What is this? Do…Do you still love her? Would you rather go back to her than be with me? Cause from what I've heard, you two never work out so you'll be wasting your time." Julia annoyingly pestered.

"NO. NO. NO. Let me talk for once!" Mark interjected. "Yes I love her. That'll never change. It doesn't mean I was doing anything more than just…Being there for her. She'd done the same thing for me when I was hurt, even when she was dating Jackson."

"This is just too much! You were too upset to call your own girlfriend and tell her if you were alive or dead? You didn't care about that, now did you? You didn't give a damn that I was scared shitless? Or that I had to go through a full day of work wondering what the hell was going on with my boyfriend?" She cried.

"I'm sorry. It just wasn't something I was thinking about."

"Oh…Well that's perfect, I'm so glad that you weren't thinking about me at all while you were cuddling up to your slut ex-girlfriend." Julia repeated her cynical wrath.

"HEY, DON'T YOU SAY A SINGLE BAD THING ABOUT HER. SHE IS NOT A SLUT. SHE IS ONE OF THE KINDEST, SMARTEST, AND MOST WONDERFUL PEOPLE I KNOW." Mark angrily shouted back from frustration. "SHE DOESN'T DESERVE ANY OF THIS. SHE DESERVES TO BE HAPPY ALL THE TIME BUT THEN SHIT LIKE THIS ALWAYS HAS TO HAPPEN IN THIS DAMNED HOSPITAL,"

"Wow you sure know how to defend _her. _Well, what about me?" Julia lowered her voice to ask.

"It's not always about _you. _Maybe it's time you realize that. Because while you're perfectly fine, she's in a hospital. She just had two surgeries and coded twice. That is scary stuff. She can't even see because her father nearly bludgeoned her with a glass bottle and she has blunt force trauma to the head and now she has vision loss. She might never see again .Her career could be over. And all you're worried about is yourself. That's low. And coming from me, that's saying something."Mark stared her down. As soon as he saw tears breaking through in Julia's eyes he muttered, "Yeah I thought so," and then stormed away.

Derek walked up to Julia who was now breaking down into a sopping cry. "Try to calm down. Go find a place to sit down for awhile. He just needs his time."

Julia nodded and then walked off in the other direction. Derek watched her amble away and the turned when he heard Meredith calling out to him, "Derek. What's up with Mark? I tried to talk to him and he just kept stomping away and didn't even look up at me."

Derek looked at his confused wife and happy baby girl. He hoped nothing would ever tear them apart or cause drama like Mark was having right now. "Um, well Julia showed up and she was not too happy with what she saw. They had a big show down and then stormed away. He's just mad. Don't take it personally." Derek walked up and kissed Meredith on the lips.

"She didn't regain full consciousness yet?"

"Uh no. She said a few words to Mark but she quickly dozed off again. She surprisingly slept through their entire fight too. It was pretty loud." Derek explained.

"Well…I called Jackson. I figured he'd want to see her too. And Alex knows. I also got a hold of our sister Molly to let her know what happened. Everyone knows now basically. She's going to have a good support group." Meredith informed.

"That's good. She's going to need it. She's gonna have a hard time adjusting to this lifestyle. No surgery. No work. Just alotta rest. You'd think it'd be easy but it really isn't."

"I remember from my liver transplant surgery. God, what I'd do to take that liver back now. That bastard doesn't deserve a chunk of my liver." Meredith ranted jokingly. They both laughed at this. Even Zola joined in the laughter.

As Derek spotted Jackson Avery strutting down the hallway in his casual clothes he mumbled to his wife, "The party's just begun,"


	19. Chapter 19: Ending Things

HERES AN EXTREMELY LONG CHAPTER FOR YOU SINCE I HAVENT UPSDATE IN FOREVER. SORRY GUYS! THANKS FOR BEING SO PATIENT. And leave all your reviews because in the next chapter im going to be doing shout outs! So tell me what you think, what needs improving, what you'd like to see happen, etc… thanks everybody

Chapter 19: Ending things

Mark went down to the cafeteria to burn off some steam after his big fight with Julia. He had to get away. Just for a few minutes he needed to be out of sight of everybody he knew so that he could feel normal again. Right now he felt like some kind of animal. He'd had a rough two days. And for some reason that little argument he had with Julia had really ticked him off. She was rude. She was inconsiderate. She'd made a mockery of a girl holding on for dear life after a double surgery.

Mark entered the line in the cafeteria and picked up a packaged turkey sandwich, a Caesar salad and another cup of coffee. He felt awkward in the situation. He moved to a vacant table feeling extremely paranoid…Like eyes were on him. Eyes of people he knew, people he worked with….Silently judging him on rumors they'd probably heard in the past 30 some hours. His emotions and thoughts were out of whack. He felt like he was turning into a crazy person. And maybe he was. He devoured his entire lunch in the matter of minutes and chugged the lukewarm coffee to get a buzz of much needed energy. Then after taking a breather he stood up with the tray full of empty wrappers and dumped it out in the trash can. He'd been pondering this whole situation. The whole Lexie or Julia thing. Should he stay with Julia and potentially be happy with the rest of his life or should he try things with Lexie again. After all he still loved her and always would love her. Would that be enough? Or would something go wrong again just ending up in the termination of their relationship again? If that did happen then he would've lost Julia for no reason.

As Mark subconsciously began walking back upstairs a familiar voice screamed his name and woke him up from his daydreaming state. "Mark! I just heard about what happened between you and Julia from Derek! I'm so sorry. Are you alright? Callie Torres asked in a worried and inquiring voice.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Julia was the least of my worries right now," He set it straight; "I'm focusing on Lexie. Julia's petty problems will have to come later,"

"Well…Don't take it too hard on her. I mean she was just mad. You beat up three guys the last time you got mad." Callie announced.

"Don't try to defend her," Mark butted in, "She insinuated that Lexie was a whore while Lexie is in the hospital near death. Only a heartless bitch would do that. I beat up three guys to defend Lexie not to make fun of her,"

Callie took that into consideration and as Mark began to walk away from her she followed him like a wild, raving fan. "Then what are you gonna do about it? You have to handle this so that it doesn't blow over like the last fight you were in. You nearly ended up in jail."

"I'm ending things," He replied immediately, not hesitating for one second.

Callie was blindsided. It wasn't like it should be that shocking to her but for some reason it kind of was surprising. She thought Mark was sensible enough to not jump at the first thought of things. Perhaps she'd overestimated him. But it was Lexie they were talking about. And she understood how awful it must feel to see her hurt like that. She felt sympathy for them both. She really did, but she just didn't know if this was the right move for them. She honestly wished that they could end up happily ever after but relationships aren't that simple. Sometimes it's possible that two people could love each other so much, more than you can even imagine, and still not work out and get that fairytale ending. That was kind of how Lexie and Mark were. She didn't want Mark wasting more time trying to make things with her go overly smoothly if it was all for nothing.

"Mark you're positive on this? Like a hundred percent positive this is what you want? Have you even thought this over?" Callie poked at him.

"I've thought enough to realize that I'm a fool for wanting to let Lexie go. She told me she loves me. That's enough for me. I'm in love with her too. Say I'm crazy, go ahead. Because I know I'm crazy enough to give this another try." Mark fired back and begun trotting up the stairs, ahead of Callie.

"But you love Julia too!" Callie tried to convince.

"Not enough to pass up Lexie for her," Mark balled up his fists as he gave his answer.

"Mark," Callie grabbed his shoulders, whirled him around and stopped him, "Now you're absolutely sure about this?"

"I've never been more sure in my life," Mark got the message out loud and clear. "Don't worry about me Callie. I'll be fine. And I'll be sure to let her down easy. I still like her. I don't want to hurt her in any way."

"I know Mark. You're a big softy," Callie playful pushed him.

"Hey," Mark laughed.

"Go! Go! What're you waiting for?" Callie now laughed and pushed him again.

"Oh right! Thanks Cal!" Mark gave her a thumbs up as he ran in the other direction to find Derek so that he could get his cell phone back and locate Julia.

Lexie awoke again from her peaceful nap and immediately remembered falling asleep in the arms of Mark Sloan. The thought automatically brought a smile to her face. She turned over to reach for him but was disappointed when her hand only brushed over the soft top of the hospital sheets. She opened her eyes but it was useless. She was still blind as a bat. She could barely even make out shapes and colors. She really hoped that everything between her and Mark hadn't just been some weird tripped out dream. She seriously doubted that though. It was all too real. And she remembered seeing him multiple times. This was reality, and in reality…She almost died and may be permanently blinded because of it. Lexie sat up in bed and called out Mark's name to see if he was still in the room somewhere but she was startled when the voice of a different man answered in return.

"Sorry to disappoint but it's just me,"

"Oh Jackson. " Lexie jumped a little then sighed at the recognition of the mysterious voice, "You scared me. And it's not a disappointment. I'm very glad to see you…Well not see…I guess…Well it's good to hear you,"

Jackson gave a half grin and continued to tap his fingers together in a nervous way. "So you haven't seen Mark?" Lexie finally asked.

"No, sorry. He wasn't here when I arrived. And Meredith and Derek ran off as soon as I showed up. Mer had o take Zola home and Derek needed some sleep. I was coming to see you anyways so I offered to stay on watch duty. April was the one who told me last night. I couldn't believe it. I was going to come right then and there but she said you'd be in surgery for a while after she got the page that you'd coded. I should've come anyways," Jackson talked nervously, sounding a bit like Lexie as he began to ramble.

"That's okay. I probably wouldn't have been much company being all comatose and such," Lexie said humorously. Jackson gave a small cackle of laughter as he heard Lexie laugh. It was good that even after all this she was already back to joking around.

"I broke you a get well balloon. Now that I think about it, it probably wasn't such a good gift since you can't really see." Jackson informed.

"Well I appreciate the gesture anyways," Lexie smiled. "You seem far away. I can only tell because your voice seems move distant. Come closer, its okay. I don't have too many cooties and even if I bite you're conveniently located in a hospital where you can get your tetanus shot,"

Jackson let out another laugh. Even on the brink of death she can crack a good joke, Jackson silently thought. "I'm sorry, I was just feeling a little uncomfortable being that…Uh…You know,"

Lexie immediately connecting that he was referring to their now ex relationship status, "Agreed," She commented.

"So um how'd this all happen. April's game of telephone wasn't quite explanatory enough. She said your Dad hit you? With a glass bottle?" Jackson started a new conversation.

"Yes and kicked me. He was drunk after a streak of being sober." Lexie minimally expanded the story.

"Man, that's just unbelievable. I can't even imagine something like that…." Jackson started as he moved his chair closer to Lexie's bed and then re-seated himself, "I'm really sorry about all of this. I hope everything turns out well,"

"Thanks Jackson,"

Jackson stared into Lexie's vacant brown eyes for a moment and then cleared his throat, "Just so we're clear….Even though we're broken up I just want you to know that I still care about you. And I'll always be here for you whenever you need me. Don't hold back. If you need something just ask. I'm here to help because I want to see you get better more than anything,"

"I know Jackson. You're a great guy. Honestly I think you might be the greatest guy that I know and that I've been granted the pleasure of meeting. I wish things had worked out between us its just that…Maybe you were too good of a guy for me. I've been hurt and I've been with not so great guys so that's what im used to. That's what I know. So when you came along I just….i don't think I knew what to do with such an amazing guy," Lexie took her turn rambling.

"I get that you love Sloan, Lexie. I really do. You don't have to try and hide that anymore. He was your first love and he'll probably be your last love. You don't have to deny it." Jackson assured unenthusiastically.

Lexie didn't respond from her embarrassment. She knew Jackson was right. Why was she always trying to hide it anyways? Maybe deep down inside she thought mark would be better off with another girl, even though the sight of it always hurt her.

Jackson abruptly rose from his chair and rubbed his hands together, "Well the best way to start your healing process is with rest, lots and lots of rest."

Lexie gave him a smile and then laid her head back down. Jackson walked right up to Lexie's bed this time and fluffed her pillow, then tucked her under the sheets and gave her a small kiss on the forhead, "Sleep tight,"

"Jackson wait," Lexie grabbed his arm, "I'm sorry….That things didn't work out between us…I really wanted it to. I liked you a lot. I just….My mind…It's clouded…By Mark."

Jackson kneeled down and let his chin rest on the bed and said, "I know. It's not your fault. You don't need to apologize. Besides, it doesn't have to be a bad thing. Now that we're broken up maybe we could just go back to the way we were before. Friends. Maybe even best friends. Cause I could use a good friend,"

Lexie's eyes were closed now as she began to drift, but she bit her lip and nodded with a smile, "I'd like that,"

"Good," Jackson replied back, "Because Alex sucks, Meredith and Derek barely acknowledge my presence and always hog Zola and April can get annoying sometimes even if she's one of my best friends,"

They laughed together one last time before Lexie fell back asleep

Derek had left Lexie's room when Jackson showed up. Meredith had gone to take Zola home so they could both get some more sleep and so Derek decided that's what he needed to do as well. He wanted to remain close to Lexie in case of any emergencies so he ventured down the hall to the nearest on-call room. The place where surgeons came to sleep ….Or do other things involving a bed.

Derek felt like crap. His head pounded, his eyes would barely stay open and every muscles in his body ached. He'd been on his feet for two days straight and it had finally caught up to him. He needed at least an hour of rest. He was so ready for this power nap.

He opened the door to the room and flipped on the light switch. Very much to his surprise he spotted Julia. She was sitting on the floor next to the bed, hunched over and curled up into a little ball while she wept.

"Julia…What're you?" Derek began to question, his body just wanting to flop down in to the bed.

"I'm sorry Derek. You must be exhausted. I'll leave," Julia spoke through her tears and began to stand up,

"Nnnnnnnno,"Derek waved his hand for her to stay put, "It's okay. Tell me what's going on first. This is about Mark? Have you straightened things out yet?"

"No. I haven't even talked to him yet. He wouldn't answer his phone again," Julia began to cry again.

"Oops," Derek remembered, "That's probably because I have his phone," He reached into the pocket on his white jacket and held it in the air for her to see.

"I was such an idiot today Derek," She confessed, "I feel like a total jerk. I don't know what's gotten into me. Now that I've let myself get all my emotions out I feel so much better. I'm not even mad any more. I'm actually more upset with myself than anything. I didn't even ask if Lexie was alright. Gosh,"

"She's doing fine. She suffered trauma to the head though….It resulted in loss of vision. I'm hoping that's only temporary though," Derek informed.

"Oh no. That's awful." Julia said, actually seeming devastated, "How do I make this better Derek?"

"Well you can start by talking to mark and telling him the things you just told me. I…I can go find him for you," Derek said, regrettably because he knew now that it would cut into his sleep time. "I'll convince him to see you. Just stay put here and I'll direct him to you,"

"Geez Derek, you're a life saver," Julia smiled and jumped up to hug him

"I sure hope so," Derek said, thinking of Lexie, into her shoulder.

Mark was looking back and forth and up and down for any sight of either Derek, Meredith or Julia herself. He should've just asked Callie to borrow her cell. God was his mind really that messed up from all this that he couldn't even think of something as simple as that?

Just as Mark was passing the restrooms that were approximately three doors down from Lexie's room Derek appeared from the crowd and pulled Mark aside.

"Hey Mark," Derek started.

"You got my cell phone?" Mark avoiding him and asked while pointing at Derek's pocket. Derek reached in and handed it to him.

"So listen," He tried to star again.

"Sorry Derek I really need to find Julia," Mark explained.

"Oh but that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I just saw Julia she's in the on-call room at the end of the hallway. She's intruding on my sleeping time. So can you please go talk to her so I can get in there and close my eyes for five minutes?" Derek informed.

"Ok thanks Derek. I'll do so," Mark began to run away.

"But wait Mark!" Derek tried to call after him, but he was already gone.


	20. Chapter 20: Don't think twice about this

SHOUT OUTS:

**LexieMcSteamy: Well I'll have to spoil it a little and say that Mark is very serious about wanting to break up with Julia and be with lexie until of course something gets in the way. But you'll get the happy ending eventually **

**BekaRoo: I loved lexie and Jackson as friends too, that's why I wanted to put that in. Also with the Julia and Mark thing, just be prepared for surprises lol.**

**BroadwayFreak5357: I cant wait for them to break up too! But it may take a little while still, just cos of something that pops up.**

**Hermosa06: I still hate Julia too. The break-up is inevitable of course, but not for this chapter. But don't hate me because the break up will be more satisfying when it happens I promise.**

**All the followers, guests, favorites and story alerts: Thanks so much for tuning into my story. It means a lot to me **

**Chapter 20:**

**Mark walked up to the door of the on-call room. He stopped for a moment, let out a breath and cracked his neck on both sides before reluctantly reached his hand forward and twisted the knob, sighing as he pushed the door in. Once he was all the wall inside the small room he spotted Julia looking very helpless as she sat curled up on the ground, sobbing her eyes out. As she noticed Mark was present she immediately stood up.**

"**Listen, Julia I have to tell you that…" Mark started, but he was cut off when Julia suddenly ran up and hugged him.**

"**No….Don't even try to apologize to me Mark," she said into his arm. Mark was both startled and shocked. His brow scrunched up as he stood still, not hugging her back. "I was the wrong one here. You had every right to react the way you did."**

**Julia pulled away from the hug and took in Mark's confused and angry looking face.**

"**That's not what I was…" Mark tried to talk again but was cut off for a second time.**

"**I shouldn't have acted so jealous. I know that you two are broken up but that you still care about each other. I may not be that way with my exes but who am I to judge. You were being a gentleman. And I like Lexie. I really do. I want her to get better as much as you do."**

**By now thoughts were swirling around in Mark's head. He tried to pay attention to her words but his brain was overworking. **_**What'd Derek say to her? **_**He pondered. **

_**Just say it. Say it anyways. Tell her you want out. Do it before it's too late. Come on wimp. Let her down now. You're missing your opportunity. Do you wanna be stuck with her forever when its Lexie that you love? You almost lost her. Don't let that happen again. You won't make it if it does. A shooting and now this, how many traumatic events can one person survive? Just stop her blabbing and say it straight. Tell her you're breaking up with her. **_**Was what was going through Mark's scattered thoughts. He tuned back into to Julia's conversation and pushed the thoughts out, waiting for the exact right opportunity to strike her with the news.**

**He came in when she said, "I don't want Lexie's career…And her life ruined. I'm an eye surgeon. If there's anything medically possible for me to correct Lexie's bummed vision then I want to do it for her."**

**That caught Mark off guard again. Why hadn't he thought of this Julia could fix Lexie's eyes…Well possibly she could. And if there was a chance at that Lexie could get her sight back. She could continue her career and life normally. And Mark wanted that more than anything. He wanted her happiness and her stability. And to operate you need sight. It was like a long chain. Sight= operating in surgery= career= stability= happiness. He had to get that back for Lex. So she wouldn't fall apart. He didn't want to see her struggle or be unhappy. And then another thing popped into his mind. Julia was in a good mood now, she was happy and apparently forgiving him….But what would happen after he broke up with her? She'd definitely not be so cheery about fixing the girl she was dumped for. If he ditched her now…Could he be risking Julia, the certified eye surgeon's, medical expertise? **

**Julia grabbed Mark in a big hug again. **_**Act happy, sell it until she's finished helping Lexie. That sounds bad yes. You are using her right now but its to save Lexie's career! Don't think twice about this. It's what you have to do. It's your duty. You have to do this for Lexie. It'll just be a few weeks to a few months. You can make it that long. Just try not to get this one pregnant too. That'll screw up the plans once again. Just make your way through this. It'll all be over soon. Hope and pray that will be the case. **_**Mark told himself. **_**You can do this. You've done much worse. This is just a minor setback.**_

"**As much as I hate doing this….I'm going home. You take as much time you need. I'll be waiting for you though. Just remember that. Fax me her files so I can look them over and get details on what I'm dealing with here." Julia said and she pulled back to kissed him on the cheek. Mark tried to keep a straight face even though all he wanted to do was scream at her that they were history. He held his feelings in and watched her leave. She picked up her purse off the floor and flashed him one quick smile from the doorway. Mark nodded back and forced a teensy tiny grin her way. And as soon as she was out of sight he cursed into the air and kicked a trash can over in his rage.**

**End of chapter twenty**

**Sorry to disappoint all the viewers that were expecting Julia and mark's breakup. I will offer you a spoiler alert though! The break-up will be coming in the distant future of course. And it should please you all **


	21. Chapter 21: Let it all sink in

Chapter 21: Let it all sink in

Mark eventually journeyed out of the on-call room, after taking some time to recover from his outburst of rage, feeling like a zombie. He was in a terrible blur. Everything around him seemed to pass by and fade away without him realizing or caring. This must be what depression felt like. Depression or maybe just extreme guilt. He wanted desperately to go back to Lexie's side and hold her hand, maybe even make her smile….But he felt like he was betraying her. He knew she'd be deeply upset and very disappointed in him if he told her about the things he'd regrettably done. Had he made the right choice? Using Julia was wrong. It was an awful thing to do to any human being. But it was for Lexie. Was that enough? Not even an hour into the decision Mark was already feeling horribly guilty. And what if he'd have to live out this lie for weeks? Or month? Or even longer than that? He couldn't do that.

Mark had begun to walk in the direction of Lexie's room subconsciously as he shoved his hands in his pants pockets and stared at the floor. He was unaware of his surroundings as he cognate how his "relationship" with Julia would pan out. In the back of his mind he could already guess it would be bad but he thought it over anyways. And every time he got the same result. He could already picture it in his mind. He could hear the screaming between them and see the tears shed. He could feel the pain and heartache and sense the damage that had been done on his part.

Once Mark approached Lexie's room he was blindsided by his friend Callie Torres once again as she showed up prepared with a list of questions to ask. "Hey did you do it? How'd it go? Was she mad? Like really mad? Or did she understand the circumstances?"

"I…I couldn't go through with it," Mark admitted feeling very sheepish and embarrassed as he could see the disappointment in Callie's facial expression.

"Mark, you wimp, what happened?" Callie slapped his arm. Mark just took it without even saying anything which automatically made Callie feel bad so she switched to a less harsh tone. "C'mon seriously, What happened Mark?"

"I…She…It," Mark tried to get the story out but couldn't figure out the right way to start.

"Ok, breathe," Callie grabbed his shoulders and made eye contact, "Just start off slow. Tell me what happened first,"

Mark connected his friend's gaze and took in a deep breath, "I went to Derek for my cell phone and he said Julia was in the on-call room. I went in and I was about to say it but she cut me off and hugged me and said she was sorry and that I had the right to be angry and upset,"

"So, why didn't you just end things?" Callie was confused by the lack of details.

"I was gonna but then she…She told me that she'd do anything she could to repair Lexie's bummed vision," Mark admitted, already ashamed of himself.

It took Callie a second to put the pieces together but the she immediately gasped, "No Mark. No you didn't. You stayed with her so you can get Lexie a surgery!?" Callie yelled in surprise.

Mark shushed her so that no one would overhear. "I know I know that's bad but…I have to do it for her. What kind of life will she have if she can't see?" Mark pointed at her room while speaking. "If I were to break up with Julia right now Lexie might never get that surgery. I know that Julia isn't the only eye doctor in the world but I've seen her work. She's amazing. She made a war vet who'd been blind for twenty years regain his vision after one quick operation. She's good."

Callie sighed and took her hands off of Mark's broad shoulders and rolled her eyes, "Alright…I understand. I won't say anything. Just…Be careful. Don't hurt either of them,"

"That's what I'm afraid of," mark stated as he looked into the window at Lexie. She was sleeping again and Jackson Avery was sitting at her bedside. Meredith was standing in the corner bouncing Zola and Derek was conversing with a nurse in the doorway.

"I'll either end up disappointing Lexie for abusing Julia's surgical skills, end up ruining Julia's life or….Both," Mark confessed. "What do I do Cal?"

"Well…That's your decision Mark,"

"But I don't know what to do! I need you to tell me what to do. You have to," Mark shook Callie to show how serious he was being.

"Ok ok…Calm down," Callie held her hands out in front of her to keep him back. "I'll give you some advice. Keep thinking about it. Think it over until you can't think straight anymore, you know. Just. Just let everything settle down. Let it all sink in."

_Let it all sink in. _Those words. That basically meant that you were screwed and there was nothing they could do to help you.

"Let's just go back in there now. You can see Lexie. Maybe that'll take all those stressful thoughts out of your mind. Okay? And Arizona's coming down with Sofia too. I thought you might like to see her, put a smile on that grumpy face of yours maybe." Callie pushed Mark towards the door. "Whattaya say?"

"Yeah," Mark sighed.

"Alright?" Callie asked to confirm.

"Alright," Mark answered in a depressing to9ne.

"Alright!" Callie repeated enthusiastically. "Turn that frown upside down!" She squeezed Mark's scruffy cheeks together to try and get him to laugh or smile or show something other than anger and sadness, but she ended up being the only one chuckling.

"It'll all be different soon. Don't worry Mark. In a few months you'll be back to your old schedule, bored with life and wishing for something to happen. Cheer up. You'll make it through. You and Lexie will." Callie gave him some last assuring words before they re-entered the growingly crowded hospital room.


	22. Chapter 22: Just Maybe

Chapter 22: Just Maybe

Mark bounced little Sofia on his knee as he continued to sit at Lexie's beside. Callie had dropped her off in hopes that she would lighten Mark's dreary mood, and then rushed back off so she could finish her surgeries early and be back by evening to support Mark and Lexie. Mark had to admit that seeing his little bundle of joy did make him feel better, especially since he hadn't seen her in days. It just wasn't the same even so. He couldn't be a hundred percent better until he could see Lexie normal again. But even so he took joy in playing with his little girl. He tickled her chubby little cheeks and smiled as Sofia erupted into a cackle of laughter. Even though his smile only lasted him a few seconds it still felt good. It was reliving to pull his frowning grumpy face into a lighter position, yet he couldn't seem to keep it there. Too many depressing thoughts dwindled in his mess of a mind.

"How's Daddy's girl?" Mark spoke to Sofia in a cute baby voice, "Daddy missed you so much today. We didn't get to have our Daddy-Daughter breakfast like we always do."

Sofia made indefinable sounds and cooed while playing with Mark's scruffy beard. Mark laughed as his daughter clawed at his fuzzy chin with her soft little hands, curious at the scratchy facial hair that Mark hadn't had since before she was born. It must've been something new and exciting to her even though to Mark it was just a reminder that he hadn't had a shower in the past 30 some hours.

Mark then lifted Sofia above his head and stared at her as she gazed around in awe. "So big," He hummed like he always did whenever he raised her up above his height, "Sofia's so big! Don't you dare grow up, my little munchkin. You have to stay young forever." He now hugged her and rocked back and forth, feeling her smooth cheek on his face.

Mark now looked back at Lexie, who was still sleeping., while continuing to bounce Sofia on his jittering knee. "C'mon Lex. Wake up. Need to see you again. I need to hear your voice and know that you're still okay. I keep missing you every time you wake up. I did something bad and I really need to tell you about it. I need to tell you when you can actually hear and comprehend it. Because I want you to know what I did. I don't know if you'll approve of it or not but…I'm doing it all for you. Oh god…. I can't tell you right now. You've already been through enough. You don't need another thing to worry about." Mark rambled quietly. "I hope you don't get mad at me for it though. I think I'm using Julia though….Psh think….I _am _using her. And I feel awful. But I just can't quit now….Julia promised to help get your sight back. If I break-up with her she might not be willing to do the surgery. I know what I'm doing is messed up but I want to help you. And as soon as this is over I promise I'll tell Jules the truth and then…Maybe then we can be together again…Just maybe."

A few minutes later after Mark was finished ranting all his thoughts out-loud he tried to relax. Just close his eyes and think about something else. He needed to take his mind off of all this crap. He tried to imagine things differently. It was hard at first but then he got the hang of it. He imagined how life could be once this all blew over. Him and Lexie settling down. A big white wedding where Lexie would look more beautiful than ever. A cute house in the suburbs with a dog running around the yard. Maybe….Hopefully even having kids of their own. As Mark played out his perfect life he was suddenly torn away from his extensive daydream by the sound of murmuring. He lurched forward in his chair a bit, almost forgetting that he still had Sofia cradled in his arms. He saw Lexie's eyelids fluttering again and instantly smiled. He scooted his chair forward a bit and whispered her name, "Lexie."

"Huh?" Lexie replied, still only half conscious.

"How ya feeling?"

"….Better. Better than before at least." She answered as she finally was fully awake, and aware of the situation.

"Good. That's so good to hear." Mark almost cried. "How's your pain?"

"Hmmm maybe a five." Lexie decided.

"Do you want me to call Shepherd…Or Meredith, or someone?" Mark stuttered.

"No. That's okay. I'm fine with you."

"Well me and Sofia," Mark pointed out for her since she couldn't see. Sofia then squealed after her Daddy clapped her hands together.

"Well she's…_Sounding…. As _cute as ever." Lexie fumbled with the right words.

"Yeah I think she's glad to see you. We're both glad to see you…Awake….And all." Mark pushed through the awkwardness.

"I'm glad to hypothetically see you too," Lexie stated.

Mark laughed at her humor. Then he stood up, shifting Sofia to one side of his body and balancing her on his hip. He walked over to the water pitcher and refilled her plastic cup with the bendy straw. Lexie listened to the familiar sound of water being poured and gladly took the drink as Mark handed to her and held the straw in place so she could find it.

"Need to stay hydrated," He commented, "Here comes nurse J to the rescue." He alarmed her as he watched her strutting towards the room with a tray.

"Shepherd's on his way. He wants to do a final analysis and then start up his course of treatment," She informed Mark.

"Okay," Mark answered in agreement.

"Time for meds right now," She said and walked up to Lexie holding the tray with assorted Dixie cups.

END OF CHAPTER 22

Sorry guys I know this chapter was probably pretty lame. I'm kinda stuck right now. I'm tired off all this boring hospital room, Lexie always asleep junk so im gonna try and speed up from here out. I think somewhere in the next chapters I might jump ahead some time, like maybe a month or two so I can get on with the plot better cos I already have 21 chapters of Lexie recovering from surgery and all and I think that im dragging that portion out too much….If that makes sense idk. But anyways! Leave me some comments cause I'd like some of your opinions and thoughts cause im having some writer's block right now.


	23. Chapter 23: Road to Recovery

Chapter 23: Road to Recovery

2 more days had passed of Lexie getting in as much R & R as she could. They had been long slow…maybe even a little bit torturous of days. All of Lexie's friends had come to visit her and wish her their condolences. And working in such a big hospital there was plenty of guests to go around. The room exceeded its limits from time to time. In the meantime, Mark had finally gone home to get some rest and didn't return to work either after Chief Hunt ruled him unfit to perform surgery. Thatcher was still admitted in the hospital and unable to make contact with either of his daughter's until Lexie gave the okay. They decided to wait as long as possible to bring up that painful subject though.

Derek had waited patiently to give Lexie recuperation time but now he had to start getting her better…And that would take treatment, therapy and rehabilitation. Some might argue that it was too soon, but he knew her. And he knew it'd be best for her to get back into the groove of things as soon as possible, or she'd get mighty depressed.

"Morning Lexie. How you feeling?" He asked upon arrival into her room, bright and early in the morning.

"Good." She said, sitting up in the hospital bed. "Better at least."

"That's great…Whattaya say we try getting up from the bed today?" He asked her opinion on the matter.

"I'm ready for anything," Lexie smiled as Derek opened the blinds, letting in the light of day.

"Perfect because I'm sure you're getting sick of lying around all day,"

"You've got that right," She assured him.

"I'm going to call the rehab center to get them down here to help us. Meredith and Cristina are on their way too. They both weaseled their way out of rounds this morning to be with you for fifteen minutes before their work day starts." Derek informed.

Derek helped prop Lexie up even more, and used the remote on the bed to lift it so it was no longer flat but bent at an angle. He then put a pillow behind her neck to support it and took the covers off her. Just at that moment a Doctor Goldman from the center tapped on the side of the door and said, "knock knock,"

"Oh come in Doctor G," Derek said to the man he'd become familiarized with after he'd been shot. He knew this man well and knew that he was the best one for the job. He was not only kind, caring, gentle, patient and coaxing. He was also dedicated, smart, and fun. He makes each trip down to his facility worthwhile and even enjoyable. He'd been on the job for thirty years and was over-qualified for this case, but after Derek told him it was his sister-in-law he was more than willing to take her in. "Doc G is gonna help you stand-up Lexie. Me and Doc go way back. He was the man that helped me get through after the shooting."

"Oh please, call me Randall." He said in his gentle and smooth voice. Randall Goldman walked inside and up to Lexie. He placed one hand on her shoulder as he used the other to shake her hand and properly introduce himself. "It's very nice to meet you Ms. Grey, we're going to get you up and running as soon as possible Sweetheart."

"Please, call me Lexie." She answered with a smile.

"Alright then!" He exclaimed, clapping his large black hands together, "Now that we're on a first-name-basis we can get started,"

"Oh, just one moment. My wife wanted to be present for this." Derek cut in.

"Oh of course. Moral support is an import key to recovery. And we've got a long road ahead of us,"

"Here she comes." Derek informed as Meredith Cristina appeared, speed-walking their way to the room.

"We're here. We're here," She interjected upon arrival.

"And just in time," Goldman added. "We're about to get started. Derek, get on side of her, gently. One arm on the waist and one under the arm and we'll lift her at the same time. Lexie try to put a little force into it too."

"Alright," Lexie answered unsurely.

As both men began hoisting her up from the bed Lexie tried as best as she could to lift herself as well. Unsuspecting of how painful it would be she began to whimper but as the pain excelled she gave a squeal of pain and began to tear up as she clenched her teeth together and squeezed her eyes shut.

"That's good. Just a little further. I know it hurts. I know. I've been in your place before. Just keep fighting it and try to place your mind on something else….On something you're glad to have, or something you love. Think about something real good, to ward off the bad."

Lexie took his advice and couldn't help as her mind drifted to Mark. She hadn't seen him in almost two days. Apparently he had to take off work and everything, and Hunt was forcing him to stay out of the hospital for at least 40 hours or something like that. She screamed as her leg shifted off of the bed. She was very close to the ground now. She was about to stand up. For the first time in so long. Her butt was about to leave the seat now. Her feet were both planted on the ground and both Derek and Randall were holding her up as Meredith and Cristina stood by and watched, casually saying some supportive words from time to time.

"That's real good Hun. Now comes the hardest part. Standing up. After were down for so long it seems impossible, but all ya need is a little strength. And I know you got it. You've made it this far. You can make it to the end."

Lexie nodded, taking in his assuring words. Derek was right…He was good at his job.

"1,2,3…" Derek and Randall said in unison. And on count four Lexie slowly began to rise all the way to her feet with their help.

"excellent!" Randall exclaimed. And Meredith and Cristina clapped and cheered. Lexie smiled, but her feet began to wobble. Derek and Randall kept her steady but the pain began to increase again and her entire body started shaking. Not only did her legs hurt, but also her feet, and her arms and her surgical wound.

"Ow, set…Set me down. I can't" Lexie cried.

"Just a little longer," Randall pushed.

"No…I can't," Lexie said through her tears of pain. "I can't. It hurts too much. I need to sit,"

"Alright," Randall gave in. Him and Derek set her down gently in one of the chairs. "We'll try again later,"

"Okay," Lexie agreed, still crying as the pain continued to emanate. And that moment, Meredith who'd been watching the painful sight stood up from her seat and stormed out into the hallway before bursting into tears herself.


	24. Chapter 24: Moment of Truth

"Meredith! Meredith, wait up!" Derek called after Meredith while sprinting out of the room to catch up with her. "I know this is hard for you. It's hard for all of us. No one wants to see Lexie or anyone else for that matter in pain,"

"Hard. Hard, Derek? Really? You think this is hard?" Meredith fired back through her drowning tears, "My sister can't even shift her weight without balling her eyes out. She doesn't deserve this."

"No one deserves something like this. But it's not your fault. Don't let yourself take the blame for any of this." Derek assured.  
"I just…If Thatcher hadn't left me this would've…" Meredith tried to explain.

"Don't," Derek intruded, "If Thatcher never left she wouldn't even be born. So don't. Do not beat yourself up for any of this."

Derek then proceeded to wrap her up in his comforting arms once again to let her sob. Then after she collected herself, they returned to Lexie's room. Lexie was now on her bed once again, light sweat still dripping down her clammy forehead. She looked like hell. Her eyes were bruised a purplish pink, her cuts and stitched looked gruesome; her body looked frail and weak and seemed to be disappearing before their very eyes. No wonder it hurt to stand, she'd lost weight from the incident and now she barely had any muscle to keep herself up. Cristina was holding Lexie's clenched hand to help her fight through the pain.

"Call Mark. I think Lexie needs him right now." Derek replied to his wife after seeing the depressed and lifeless look in his sister-in-laws eyes. "I hate to do this to both of them but, I think they need each other…To make it through this. I'd hate for them to get back together based solely on the circumstances but I'm no Love Doctor. I'm only a friend, and as a friend I am going to choose to do the thing that they both want deep down inside…Even if it ruins Mark's relationship with Julia…he already told me he's nly staying with her to help get Lexie a possible surgery anyways,"

Mark quickly made his way back to Seattle Grace after a short amount of down time. He made the familiar route up to Lexie's room and immediately ran to her upon seeing her state. She looked terrible. Worse than better. Was she even improving at all? He sure hoped so. In her blank expression-less and sight-less eyes he couldn't even depict a speck of hope.

"Lex, it's me again,"

"You didn't have to come…You need a break from me," Lexie informed.

"I've had a long enough break….I don't want any more time off. I just wanna be with you…Here for you…" Mark corrected himself.

"well you should spend some time with Julia before she comes here and finishes me off."

Mark laughed a little and then took his usual seat next to her. "You need to stay strong so we can get you out of here,"

"I will. I promise," Lexie insisted.  
Just then Derek barged in with an unfamiliar woman, "I'm sorry Lex but we can't put this off any longer,"

"What is it?" She questioned.

"I'm Lydia Aldridge Ms. Grey. I'm here to talk about your legal options involving…Thatcher Grey," A blonde, mid-fifty year old woman shook Lexie's hand as she introduced herself. Lexie gulped and thought to herself: _Oh boy, this is the moment of truth. It's all up to me…It's my decision of what to do with my own father._


	25. Chapter 25: Time to decide

Lexie sat up straight, gazing like a zombie as the woman discussed all of Lexie's legal options involving the assault. She only half-listened to her boring speech and barely comprehended any of it. Which was not like Lexie at all having an exquisite memory. Even though she wasn't sure if at the moment she could say that she was herself. Nothing was as it seemed. Her own father had attacked her. She felt bad for not paying attention but all she wanted to do was sleep. She felt bad for also sleeping so much. Even though that was a silly reason. She just couldn't take the thought of all the familiar faces staring at her as if it was such a strange thing to see her alive. Yet she could not see them back.

She knew how lucky she was, but somehow she couldn't feel it. She just felt pissed off and lost. She wondered how she'd get back to being _Lexie Grey. _She felt like an alien in her own body. To sum it up, she felt like crying, but knew that it wasn't the appropriate time. To think, moving your emotions around to fit a schedule.

"Lex, did you hear her?" Mark very carefully shook her by the shoulder.

"Huh? Uhhh yeah," She was blindsided at first, but recovered with a lie. She could feel the eyes on her, waiting for her decision, but she didn't have one. "I'm going to need more time,"

"Ok, go ahead Honey. I'm here all day. I have to talk to your sister next since she's the one who called me in here today."

_Of course Meredith. _Lexie thought, but in a way she was almost happy that she did. It meant that Mer truly cared about her. Or it could mean that her hate for Thatcher was driving her to seem sisterly when in reality she just wanted to put Thatcher away.

After the lady left Mark turned to Lexie gingerly and in a gentle tone said, "Are you okay Lex? You seem…Really out of it. Given the circumstances I understand if you need more rest or some alone time."

"I hate to say this but I think I might. I'm so glad to have you here but…I need to figure this out….Alone," She admitted.

"You got it. I'm gonna go home for a while myself. Just to keep Julia from going insane. Be back soon, I promise." He patted her leg and then left, happy to see her awake and healthy for at least one moment.


	26. Chapter 26: The Decision

"Meredith your sister wanted you to be present while she delivers the verdict about your father." Lydia announced to Meredith upon her arrival.

Everyone present in the room: Mark, Derek, Lydia, Lexie, Cristina and Callie, sat anxiously waiting for Lexie to open her mouth and spill her decision.

"…I've decided to….Drop the charges built against Thatcher Grey," Lexie sighed.

Everyone gave a gasp of distaste in her faulty choice.

"Please Lexie. He doesn't deserve another chance with you. He just keeps blowing it. Give him what he deserves." Meredith leaned closer and squeezed her sister's leg while staring deeply into her sightless eyes hoping she could sense her strong presence.

"I'm not giving him a second chance by doing this. I'm doing the exact opposite. I want him to be committed to a rehabilitation center…Again. This time make sure he cannot escape or leave early. And after he finishes his time there….He can go his own way. I'm done with him. I don't want to talk to him, I don't want to be around him, I don't want his apologies, I don't even want to hear his name be said again. I want him _out_ of my life…Completely." Lexie explained to everyone in a very harsh and serious tone of voice. She meant business. Her eyebrows were ruffled as tiny crystally tears dotted the corners of her vacant eyes.

"You're sure Lex?" Meredith asked.

"I'm positive. The only reason I'm letting him off easy is because it's what my mother would've wanted."

"Well I'll go deliver the news and Thatcher will be taken to the facility immediately following his discharge," The woman responded.

"Thank you," She said as the woman retreated.

(Extremely short chapter I know but it was to the point I believe)


End file.
